Carlton-Style Spaghetti with Slow Sugo
A rich, slow-simmered meat and tomato sauce tossed through al dente spaghetti, inspired by Melbourne's iconic Italian-Australian Carlton food heritage.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 90 min
- Total
- 105 min
- Servings
- 4
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Calories
- 610 kcal
Equipment
- •Heavy-based pot or Dutch oven
- •Large saucepan
- •Wooden spoon
- •Colander
- •Cheese grater
Nutrition
Per serving, approximate
- Calories
- 610 kcal
- fat
- 21 g
- carbs
- 68 g
- fibre
- 6 g
- protein
- 34 g
- calories
- 610 kcal
Instructions
- 1
Heat the olive oil in a heavy-based pot over medium heat.
- 2
Add the finely chopped onion and garlic, cooking until soft and translucent.
- 3
Add the beef mince and pork mince, breaking up lumps until browned all over.
- 4
Stir in the tomato paste and cook for two minutes until brick red and fragrant.
- 5
Pour in the red wine, scraping up any caramelised bits from the pot base.
- 6
Add the crushed canned tomatoes and bay leaf, bringing the liquid to a gentle simmer.
- 7
Reduce the heat to low, cover partially, and simmer gently for seventy minutes.
- 8
Cook the spaghetti in a large pot of salted boiling water until al dente.
- 9
Drain pasta, reserving sixty millilitres of pasta cooking water.
- 10
Toss the hot spaghetti directly into the warm sugo, adding reserved pasta water if needed.
- 11
Serve hot in warmed bowls topped with freshly grated parmesan and basil.
Chef's tips
Simmering the sauce slowly allows the meat fats to emulsify into the tomato acidity, creating a velvety texture. Always salt your pasta water generously so the spaghetti itself carries flavour. Combining beef and pork mince provides the classic balance of savouriness and richness.
Ingredient substitutions
- dry red wine → beef stock with one teaspoon of red wine vinegar
- pork mince → an equal weight of Italian pork sausages with casings removed
- spaghetti → dried rigatoni or fettuccine
Storage
Store leftover sugo in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days or freeze for three months.
Reheating
Reheat the sugo gently in a saucepan over medium-low heat with a splash of water until steaming hot throughout.
Common mistakes to avoid
- •Boiling the sauce too vigorously, which dries out the mince and splits the oil.
- •Rinsing the cooked spaghetti under water, which washes away starches needed to hold the sauce.
- •Not cooking out the tomato paste before adding liquids, leaving a sharp raw taste.
Serving suggestions
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