Venison Bolognese Sauce
Bolognese sauce 'bambi' is a venison sauce for pasta. It can be made successfully with roe deer, muntjac and springbok.
Total Time
4 hours
Servings
4
250 g (½ lb) chopped onion
250 g (½ lb) finely-chopped mushrooms
2–5 cloves of finely-chopped garlic
30 ml (2 tbsp) olive, corn or sunflower oil (according to taste)
500 g (1.1 lb) minced/ground) stewing venison (minced lean leftovers from trimming are ideal)
500 ml dry hard cider, red or white wine, or beef stock (how much you will need depends on how fast it boils away)
60 ml (4 tbsp) tomato purée
250 g (½ lb) finely-grated carrots
5 bay leaves
30 ml (2 tbsp) Herbes de Provence
1 stock cube (optional)
Salt
Freshly-ground black pepper
300 g (¾ lb) penne, spaghetti or whatever other pasta you prefer
Parmesan cheese
Sauté the onions, mushrooms, and garlic in the oil until well softened.
Add the venison and stir well until it has all (more or less) changed colour.
Add sufficient dry cider to cover, but not too deeply.
Add the stock cube (only if you are using wine or cider), bay leaves, grated carrot, and tomato purée, and stir well.
Simmer very gently for at least 3 hours, stirring occasionally and replenishing the liquid (with more cider/wine/stock or just water) if it gets too dry. The ideal is to have the sauce with little separate liquid when it is served, but not dry enough to scorch. It may be simmered on top of the stove, or in a very low oven, or in a slow cooker. The sauce is edible after about 40 minutes but is infinitely better flavoured and textured after 3 or 4 hours. In a slow cooker it can be cooked for 8 hours. The flavour is even better if it is cooked, allowed to cool overnight, and reheated for 30 or 40 minutes—but, this is a council of perfection and not really necessary.
3 hours
About 30–40 minutes before serving remove the bay leaves, add the herbes de Provence, and adjust the salt (i.e. taste it and add more salt if you think it needs it).
30–40 minutes
Just before serving, add freshly-ground black pepper.
Serve over al dente pasta sprinkled with grated Parmesan cheese.