Ive always been a sucker for a good chili dog or coney dog, but when it comes to brats, I’m more of a purist. Mustard and onions, and I’m good to go! But I do admit, I’ve always curiously longed for one all decked out with “something” on top!! I could just never put two and two together as to “what” that “something” would be. My hubby and I both, (for once, coincidently!), agree, that, we just don’t care for chili or coney on bratwursts. It can almost taste weird to us and just doesn’t jive together well. So I got to thinking one day….what would go great on top of a brat?? Then – – it finally hit me- – a meaty BOLOGNESE sauce!!! It all made sense! And my vision of “Bacon Wrapped Brats Bolognese with Provolone!” was about to be born.

Bolognese sauce is a simple, meaty, Italian sauce that originated in Bologna, Italy, and is normally served over tagliatelle or pappardelle noodles with a healthy addition of parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese, and often served with sausage and sometimes garnished with pancetta, or even more recently and untraditionally, bacon. Hello. 😉

So why couldn’t one try serving bolognese sauce over a bratwurst, right? 😀

So I set out to make my beef bolognese first, as this slowly cooks down into a very thick sauce and needed the most kitchen time. Much to my surprise, followed by a rather colorful array of swear words, I realized, as I was gathering my ingredients, that I was out of celery. WHAT?? Seriously?? NO celery?? One of the main ingredients to the start of most sauces, soups, stews and stocks, the third ingredient of the mirepoix base that I needed to even begin this culinary adventure, the one single item that I ALWAYS have on hand….was missing from the bin?? I looked in that bin 3 times in hopes that it would somehow miraculously appear. This was no way to start, but most certainly, no way to end, either. I spied half of a green bell pepper. That would have to do, and I thought, what the heck. It might just go better with the brats anyways. Into the pot it went with the onions and sweet baby carrots. Done. Moving on.

Once your trio of veggies are done, add your garlic first, then add your lean ground beef. I highly recommend that you use LEAN for this, because we’re not going to drain it, or we’ll lose all of our olive oil and wonderful juices! We do NOT want to do that. Extra-lean leaves behind almost no grease, so there’s never any need to drain it.

Once you have the beef all cooked and broken up into very small pieces, just add the rest of the bolognese sauce ingredients, (*except the parmesan/Pecorino Romano cheese), bring it to a simmer, lower the heat to low, and simmer until very thick and rich.

You’ll know when the sauce is done when you can scrape the bottom of the pan with the side of your spoon, and no juices run back. This is exactly the consistency that you want.

The sauce will be screaming hot, like lava, so remove it from the heat to let it cool down while you grill your brats.

*You can always reheat the sauce in a bowl in the microwave. So no worries. Which also means, the sauce can be made several days ahead if you’d like. (Sauce also mellows the next day).

You can bake or fry your bacon while you’re simmering your bolognese sauce. But I always just cook up a whole pound as soon as it comes home from the store, wrap it in paper towels, pop it into a ziploc, and store it in the freezer. Then when I need a piece or few, I just place the precooked strips between a sheet or two of paper towel, and zap them in the microwave (for about 15 – 20 seconds when still frozen), and wa-lah. So convenient to have!!

So, all you do to assemble this masterpiece of a brat, is to butter the insides of your rolls, lightly broil them, top the inside top roll with provolone cheese and broil the top until the cheese melts. Top the bottom piece with a handful of fresh baby spinach leaves, top with a bacon-wrapped brat, and spoon the warm bolognese sauce over the top.

Grate some parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese over the top, and place on the top, cheesy lid with the melted provolone!

These absolutely ROCKED. I had already figured, that if it didn’t jive, we’d just have the rest of the bolognese over pasta. Well, there was no need to go to “Plan B”.

EVERYthing went extremely well together, so well, that it was like a match made in heaven. The sausage, the bacon, the beefy sauce, the spinach leaves, the cheeses….OH MAN.

You simply. Must. Try this!! The hubs and I were both very pleased with these “Bacon Wrapped Bratwursts Bolognese with Provolone”, and I know that you’ll love them, too!!! Enjoy! 🙂

Yield: 5 Awesome Brats

Bacon Wrapped Bratwursts Bolognese with Provolone

Ingredients

Bolognese Sauce:

1/4 cup olive oil
1 very small green bell pepper or half of a large one, cleaned out and small diced
1 medium onion, small diced
1 (3 oz.) bag baby carrots, sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 lb. extra lean quality ground beef such as Certified Angus Beef®
1 (28 oz.) can good whole tomatoes, crush each well with your hands when adding (plus the juice), can sub crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
6 large fresh basil leaves, medium chiffonade, not too thin or wide
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup red wine
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. coarse ground black pepper
3 Tbl. tomato paste
1/4 - 1/3 cup finely grated parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese, to taste

Rest of Ingredients:

5 slow-grilled quality bratwursts
5 - 10 slices cooked bacon, not crispy
5 Italian, hoagie or submarine rolls
5 - 10 Tbl. butter, as you like
15 slices provolone cheese, or as you like
fresh grated parmesan cheese, 5 Tbl. or as you like
fresh baby spinach leaves, 5 small handfuls

Instructions

For Bolognese:

In a large skillet heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. When almost smoking, add onions, peppers and carrots and sauté until crisp-tender, about 8 - 10 minutes. Lower heat to medium, add the garlic, and sauté for 1 more minute. Add the lean ground beef and sauté, stirring frequently and breaking up into small pieces, and cook until meat is no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Add the juice from the can of tomatoes, then add the tomatoes crushing with your hand each as you add. Add parsley, basil bay leaf, red wine, sugar, salt, pepper and tomato paste and stir in well. Bring to a simmer, lower heat to low, and simmer until the sauce completely cooks down and thickens, stirring occasionally at first, then often towards the end. *You'll know it's done when you scrape the bottom of the pot with the side of your spoon, and no more liquid runs back. This will take approximately 1 hour. Stir in parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheese, set aside to cool down a little.

*While bolognese is cooking, bake or fry your bacon if you don't already have some on hand that is cooked.

To Finish:

While bolognese is cooling down a little, grill brats until done. Wrap 1 - 2 slices bacon around each one.

Slice open rolls and butter insides. Lightly toast under broiler or do this on the grill. Separate tops from bottoms.

Place small handfuls of baby spinach leaves onto bottoms of rolls.

Top each with a bacon-wrapped brat, then top each with spoonfuls of bolognese sauce, and grate parmesan or Pecorino Romano over the tops.

Top each inside of top rolls with 3 slices provolone cheese folded in half, and run them under the broiler briefly to melt.

Place on cheesy tops. Enjoy!!

Notes

*Cooked bacon can be made pliable by reheating in microwave between sheets of paper towels. (You can even do this with pre-cooked, frozen bacon). Don't over heat, though. Reheat on High for 10 - 15 second intervals until warmed and pliable.
**You can also assemble sandwiches on the baking sheets and place the provolone on top of the bolognese and parmesan to melt that way under the broiler if you prefer. (Still toast the insides of the rolls first, though, and break them apart so that the tops don't get double-broiled and burn).