This beef, bacon and mushroom ragu is easy, tasty and the perfect comfort food. Serve on top of spaghetti with a shaving of parmesan.
It's a grey day today. The winter anxiety is starting already even though we have a good few months before things get truly miserable.
How does everyone feel about winter? I find it pretty difficult to think of any positives other than Christmas. Suddenly we're nearly at the end of July and I'm thinking about the days getting shorter and it being too cold for me to have any desire to leave the house. Yes, I'm being ridiculous.
For reals though, when it's grey outside like it is today then you definitely need a bowl of this beef, bacon and mushroom ragu to cheer you up.
It's super tasty and bursting with happy, indulgent flavour. Of course I've been all about the summer salads recently and I was even saying the other day how much vegetarian we've been having lately but even when the weather's nice I would 100% never turn down a bowlful of this ragu.
Ingredients you need to make this beef, bacon & mushrooms ragu:
- Onion
- Garlic
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Mushrooms
- Carrot
- Fresh Thyme
- Beef Mince
- Unsmoked Bacon
- Bay Leaf
- Chopped Tomatoes
- Beef Stock
- Red Wine
- Tomato Puree
- Spaghetti
Keep scrolling to get the full recipe for this beef, bacon and mushroom ragu...
It's hard to say exactly what makes this ragu so delicious. It could be the fact that it's cooked slowly for about an hour so all those flavours mish mash together in perfect harmony.
Or it could be that there's a sneaky bit of bacon in there which is guaranteed to make anything significantly more delicious.
Or maybe it's because you start by roasting some cherry tomatoes, adding them to the ragu during cooking so that their sweet, concentrated flavour gets dispersed throughout the whole thing. Whatever it is, you'll love this ragu. Promise.
Make sure you check out all my other meaty recipes before you go!
Keep scrolling to get the recipe...
WONDERING WHAT TO DO WITH THE LEFTOVER INGREDIENTS ONCE YOU'VE MADE THIS BEEF, BACON AND MUSHROOM RAGU?
If you’re anything like me then you’re always looking for ways to save money and avoid food waste so I want to make sure you’ve get plenty of ideas on how to use up any ingredients that are leftover from my recipes!
Super Tasty Classic Beef Chilli Con Carne
Sriracha Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza
Recipe
Beef, Bacon and Mushroom Ragu
Ingredients
- 1 medium Onion finely chopped
- 3 cloves Garlic minced
- 250 g Cherry Tomatoes halved
- 3 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil plus extra for roasting
- 150 g Mushrooms sliced
- 100 g Carrot approx 1 medium carrot, chopped into small cubes
- 2 sprigs Fresh Thyme
- 500 g Beef Mince
- 2 rashers Unsmoked Bacon cut into squares
- 1 Bay Leaf
- 2 400g tins Chopped Tomatoes
- 500 ml Beef Stock
- 100 ml Red Wine
- 1 tablespoon Tomato Puree
- 350 g Spaghetti
- Grated Parmesan to serve
- Salt and Pepper
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 180°c. Place the cherry tomatoes on a baking tray and drizzle liberally with olive oil, making sure they’re fully coated. Season well with salt and pepper and put in the oven to roast until blistered, approx 30 minutes.
- Heat the 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan over a low heat and sweat the onion until softened, about 10-15 minutes. Season well with salt and pepper.
- Add the garlic and carrot and cook until soft, another 2-3 minutes. Increase the heat to medium, add the bacon and cook until it's starting to get crispy. Add the mince and cook until browned.
- Add the mushrooms and cook until soft, 2-3 minutes. Season well with salt and pepper. Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, red wine, thyme, beef stock and bay leaf.
- Increase the heat to high, bring to a boil, then reduce to medium and simmer until the sauce is very thick and unctuous, about 40-60 minutes.
- Cook the pasta according to package instructions.
- Add the roasted cherry tomatoes to the ragu, stir through the sauce and simmer for 5 minutes to heat up. Serve the ragu over the pasta and top with grated parmesan.
Juli Meyers says
I love adding bacon to savory dishes. All the other stuff looks delicious as well.
Amy says
Thank you Juli 🙂
Marjory @ Dinner-Mom says
Sounds like a perfect dinner and I've got my eye on the chili too!
Tricia @ Saving Room for Dessert says
Beef, bacon and mushrooms - all the best food groups! I love a beautiful, hearty dish like this - pure comfort food!
Lisa | Garlic & Zest says
I LOVE the sound of this ragu! Beef and bacon! Wow! I'm making a marinara sauce later today, I'm definitely going to make those additions!
Jagruti says
We love mushrooms, maybe I could use soya mince instead?
Amy says
I'm sure that would work, might need to adjust the cooking times but let me know if you give it a go!
Bintu - Recipes From A Pantry says
I love a good ragu with red wine in. The bacon adds a gorgeous flavour too!