I’ve been making this recipe for years, and it’s still well-liked today just as it was back then. It can be prepared ahead of time and preserved in the fridge by using canned mushrooms.
| Prep Time: | 15 mins |
| Cook Time: | 1 hr |
| Total Time: | 1 hr 15 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
| Yield: | 6 servings |
Ingredients
- ¼ cup olive oil, divided
- 3 links pork sausage, casings removed
- ½ pound ground beef
- 2 pounds eggplant, peeled and chopped
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 ½ teaspoons sea salt
- ¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 (8 ounce) package sliced fresh mushrooms
- 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 (12 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 ½ teaspoons dried basil
Instructions
- Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat; cook pork sausage, breaking it onto smaller pieces with a wooden spoon, until browned, about 5 minutes. Add ground beef; cook and stir until beef is browned and crumbly, about 5 minutes. Drain excess fat.
- Pour remaining olive oil over sausage mixture; add eggplant, onion, garlic, salt, and black pepper. Cook and stir until lightly browned, about 10 minutes. Add mushrooms and continuing cooking until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Mix crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, parsley, oregano, and basil into sausage mixture; bring to a boil. Cover Dutch oven, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 30 minutes.
- You can substitute ground pork for the sausage, or you can make this meatless by omitting the meat and adding peppers and zucchini to make it extra hearty.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 282 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 19 g |
| Cholesterol | 34 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 8 g |
| Protein | 14 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5 g |
| Sodium | 840 mg |
| Sugars | 9 g |
| Fat | 18 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Delicious! I added red bell pepper as recommended in the notes section, then stirred in a bit of heavy cream after it was done simmering. This is such a great use of eggplant, and I’m eating it by the bowlful instead of putting it on anything.
ABSOLUTELY amazing. Only thing I did different was added a little adobo, and 1/4 cup half and half. It was perfect! Probably one of the best sauces I’ve ever made.
adding red wine is makes this dish a home run!
easy fantastic recipe. thumbs up from the kids!
Phenomenal as written. No need to change anything. My go to bolognese now! Makes enough to freeze some for later.
This recipe is my go to for Italian sauce!! I have added some of the suggested add ins like red wine and other veggies that I have available! I alternate putting it over spaghetti squash or pasta! I have had 3 different people ask me for the recipe!! Delicious!
Delicious!!!
This was a wonderful dish. Since I don’t eat pork or beef, I used ground turkey and a turkey & kale sausage I bought from Fresh Market. I also deleted the mushrooms and used some Swiss chard. Since I was out of oregano, I used basil and rosemary. My son and husband loved it and so did I.
Perfect Paleo meal. I substituted Johnsonville Hot Italian sausage(out of the casing) for the pork sausage changing the flavor . The eggplant combined with everything was so good. I added italian seasoned diced tomatoes . My family loved the meal. It is filling and in our new way of eating. Thank you
Amazing! I used a pound of ground beef and no sausage. Only 1 tbsp of olive oil was necessary. Added extra garlic and onion and a 28oz can of diced tomatoes. Served over spaghetti squash. Wow!!
This was delicious. I used a high ratio of sauce to pasta because this is loaded with vegetables. My new favorite pasta sauce.
Followed the recipe exactly. Very easy and very tasty. This is definitely a keeper!
I love this sauce. The eggplant gives it a nice creamy texture. I usually cut out half of the basil (personal preference) and use poultry sausage.
This is great! Spaghetti squash is very underated as an alternative to the processed strands of empty nutrition folks normally use for their dinner. The only thing I would consider doing is leaving the majority of garlic to be added to your pot under recipe section 3, in order to keep the essential enzymes intact from the higher temps reached during 1 and 2.
This was delicious. I have never had Bolognese before so I can’t say whether or not it is what one would expect, but it definitely beat marinara sauce – even marinara with meatballs. It makes a lot. I put the leftovers in the freezer and hope all will be well with them. I got the leftovers out today and used them as the base for a cottage pie. I just topped them with some mashed potatoes and some sharp cheddar. It was excellent!
This was delicious. I have never had Bolognese before so I can’t say whether or not it is what one would expect, but it definitely beat marinara sauce – even marinara with meatballs. It makes a lot. I put the leftovers in the freezer and hope all will be well with them. I got the leftovers out today and used them as the base for a cottage pie. I just topped them with some mashed potatoes and some sharp cheddar. It was excellent!
I made this, mostly because I had all the components on hand. My husband said it was really great and a definite do over. I thought it good, and would have liked it better, but I don’t really like cooked tomatoes.
Absolutely delicious! I used fresh tomatoes instead of canned as that was what I had. It also freezes and reheats beautifully. I’ll be making this in much larger batches to freeze next year
Really liked the favors but next time will add some red wine with the onions to build some richness. Also, made fresh pasta with it – will make it again.
A winner in my book. Fiancee doesnt’ like mushy vegetables but if you chop the mushrooms, everything comes out in a consistency that’s just one thick meat sauce so he doesn’t know. Delicious
I am a huge fan of bolognese and very picky about flavor, oiliness, and meatiness. I doubled this recipe and made fresh pasta. DELICIOUS! It made so much I was able to freeze some, too. I weighed out the eggplant and meat at the grocery store, ending up with a little more eggplant, which was fine. And while I typically do not peel eggplant, I followed the recipe to the letter and see the wisdom in it. The peel would have changed the texture. Leftovers were better and better each day, as I find most Italian dishes to be. Making the fresh pasta put this dish over the top! It was my first time making pasta and EASY! I highly recommend it!