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Venison bolognese

Prepare: less than 30 mins
Cook: 1 to 2 hours
Serve: Serves 4
Dietary: Nut-free

A rich and silky-smooth Italian bolognese, best served with bucatini – a long, hollow pasta – to soak up all the sauce.

By Matt Tebbutt

From Saturday Kitchen

Ingredients

For the bolognese

1 onion, peeled and halved
1 carrot, peeled
2 celery sticks
4 garlic cloves
6–8 dried porcini mushrooms, rehydrated in boiling water then drained and chopped
2–3 Parmesan rinds
small bunch fresh thyme
2 juniper berries, crushed
1 bay leaf
800g/1lb 12oz minced venison
3 tbsp tomato purée
400ml–500ml/14–18fl oz whole milk, enough to almost cover
50g/1¾oz unsalted butter
freshly grated nutmeg

To serve

500g/1lb 2oz dried bucatini pasta
100g/3½oz Parmesan, grated

Method

To make the bolognese, add the onion, carrots, celery, garlic and porcini to a food processor and blend together.
Place a pan over a medium-low heat then add the blended vegetables along with the Parmesan rinds, thyme, juniper and bay. Sweat for 20 minutes to soften.
Add the venison and mix well, breaking up with a wooden spoon.
Add the tomato purée and cook out, for 2 minutes, then pour in the milk to almost cover. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer gently for 1 hour 30 minutes until tender.
Stir the butter into the bolognese and grate over a little nutmeg just before serving.
When ready to serve, cook the pasta according to the packet instructions, drain and toss through the finished bolognese. Serve into bowls and grate generous amounts of Parmesan over the top.