Forty-five minutes. That is all this chicken bolognese takes from skillet to table, and it tastes like it simmered for hours. Martha Stewart’s Chicken Bolognese with Tagliatelle is made with ground chicken, carrots, celery, onion, tomato paste, white wine, whole milk, and canned tomatoes, all cooked down into a thick, rich sauce that clings to every strand of pasta.
I started making this on weeknights last fall when I wanted a real pasta dinner but did not have three hours for a traditional bolognese. This chicken pasta recipe is lighter than beef but I would not call it light. The milk and the wine give the sauce a body that surprised me the first time. Martha knows what she is doing.
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Why You Will Love This Chicken Bolognese:
- It tastes like an all-day sauce: The trick is the tomato paste. You cook it for 2 minutes before adding anything else and it concentrates the flavour in a way that tricks your brain into thinking this sauce has been on the stove for hours. I did not believe it until I tasted it.
- Milk makes it creamy without cream: This sounds odd if you have never made bolognese before, but milk is traditional. It rounds out the acid from the tomatoes and wine and gives the sauce a silky texture that ground chicken alone would not have.
- One skillet, real dinner: I use a large skillet for the sauce and a pot for the pasta. That is it. There is no roasting, no blending, no separate steps happening at the same time. You build the sauce in layers and everything stays in one pan.
Chicken Bolognese Tagliatelle Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 1 small onion, finely chopped (1 cup)
- 1 celery stalk, finely chopped (1/2 cup), plus leaves for serving
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and finely chopped (3/4 cup)
- Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1 pound ground chicken (preferably a mix of white and dark)
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1/2 cup dry white wine, such as Sauvignon Blanc
- 3/4 cup whole milk
- 1 can (14.5 ounces) whole peeled tomatoes in juices, pureed
- 1 pound tagliatelle, pappardelle, or fettuccine
- Freshly grated Parmesan and nutmeg, for serving
How To Make Martha Stewart Chicken Bolognese Tagliatelle
- Cook the vegetables: Heat a large skillet over medium-high and add the olive oil. Put in the onion, celery, and carrots, season with salt and pepper, and cook until everything is soft, about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Brown the chicken: Add the ground chicken to the skillet, season with salt and pepper, and cook while breaking it into bite-size pieces until it is no longer pink, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Build the sauce base: Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes so it darkens and concentrates. Pour in the white wine and let it boil until it has almost all evaporated, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Simmer with milk and tomatoes: Add the milk and the pureed tomatoes. Turn the heat down and let the sauce simmer until it thickens, about 12 to 15 minutes.
- Cook the pasta and toss: While the sauce simmers, cook the tagliatelle in a large pot of salted water. Drain, but save 1 cup of the pasta water. Put the pasta back in the pot, add the sauce, and stir in the pasta water a little at a time until the sauce coats every strand. Drizzle with olive oil and top with celery leaves, Parmesan, and a pinch of nutmeg.
Recipe Tips
- Use a mix of white and dark meat: Martha says to buy ground chicken that blends both. All-breast meat dries out in the sauce and you lose the richness that makes this feel like a real bolognese. I learned this the first time I made it with breast only.
- Save that pasta water: The starchy water is what makes the sauce stick to the noodles instead of sliding off. I always save more than I think I need because you can always add less, but you cannot go back for more once you have drained it.
- Cook the tomato paste before adding liquid: Those 2 minutes of cooking the paste in the hot skillet caramelize it and deepen the flavour. If you dump the wine in too fast, the paste never gets that toasted taste and the sauce ends up thinner.
Why I Always Double This
The sauce freezes perfectly for up to 3 months. I make a double batch every time and freeze half in a container. On the nights when I have nothing planned, I just boil pasta and thaw the sauce.
Martha says to reheat it gently so the milk does not separate. I warm it on the stove over low heat with a splash of water and it tastes exactly like the day I made it.
What Goes Well With This Chicken Bolognese
A caesar salad on the side is the move here. Something sharp and crunchy to balance all that rich sauce. I tear off a piece of sourdough bread for mopping up whatever is left in the bowl.
When I want to make it a bigger Italian night, I add eggplant parmesan to the table. It sounds like a lot of food but people always finish everything. Bolognese night brings out appetites.
How To Store Leftovers
Keep the sauce and the pasta in separate containers if you can. Pasta soaks up the sauce overnight and by the next day you have dry noodles with no coating. The sauce on its own keeps for 3 days in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer. I freeze it in single-serving portions so I can thaw just what I need.
If you already mixed everything together, add a splash of water or milk when you reheat. The starch in the pasta thickens everything up in the fridge so it needs loosening. I reheat it on the stove, never the microwave, because the milk in the sauce can separate if it heats too fast.
FAQs
- Can I use ground turkey instead of chicken? Yes. Martha says a mix of light and dark turkey works the same way. I have done it and the taste is almost identical. Just make sure it is not all breast meat or the sauce will be dry.
- Can I make this dairy free? You can swap the milk for unsweetened almond or soy milk. The sauce will be a little thinner but it still works. Martha offers this as an option in the original recipe.
- Why does the recipe call for milk in a tomato sauce? Milk is traditional in bolognese. It tames the acidity of the tomatoes and wine, and it gives the sauce a creaminess without using cream. I thought it was weird too until I tried it. Now I cannot imagine making bolognese without it.
- Can I use spaghetti instead of tagliatelle? You can, but Martha recommends flat, wide noodles like tagliatelle, pappardelle, or fettuccine because the sauce catches in the folds better. Spaghetti is round and the sauce tends to slide off. I stick with tagliatelle.
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Nutrition Facts
(1 serving, serves 4)
- Calories: 620
- Total Fat: 18g
- Saturated Fat: 5g
- Cholesterol: 95mg
- Sodium: 680mg
- Total Carbohydrates: 72g
- Protein: 38g
Martha Stewart Chicken Bolognese Tagliatelle Recipe
Description
Forty-five minutes. That is all this chicken bolognese takes from skillet to table, and it tastes like it simmered for hours. Martha Stewart’s Chicken Bolognese with Tagliatelle is made with ground chicken, carrots, celery, onion, tomato paste, white wine, whole milk, and canned tomatoes, all cooked down into a thick, rich sauce that clings to every strand of pasta.
I started making this on weeknights last fall when I wanted a real pasta dinner but did not have three hours for a traditional bolognese. This chicken pasta recipe is lighter than beef but I would not call it light. The milk and the wine give the sauce a body that surprised me the first time. Martha knows what she is doing.
Ingredients
Instructions
- Cook the vegetables: Heat a large skillet over medium-high and add the olive oil. Put in the onion, celery, and carrots, season with salt and pepper, and cook until everything is soft, about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Brown the chicken: Add the ground chicken to the skillet, season with salt and pepper, and cook while breaking it into bite-size pieces until it is no longer pink, about 3 to 4 minutes.
- Build the sauce base: Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes so it darkens and concentrates. Pour in the white wine and let it boil until it has almost all evaporated, about 1 to 2 minutes.
- Simmer with milk and tomatoes: Add the milk and the pureed tomatoes. Turn the heat down and let the sauce simmer until it thickens, about 12 to 15 minutes.
- Cook the pasta and toss: While the sauce simmers, cook the tagliatelle in a large pot of salted water. Drain, but save 1 cup of the pasta water. Put the pasta back in the pot, add the sauce, and stir in the pasta water a little at a time until the sauce coats every strand. Drizzle with olive oil and top with celery leaves, Parmesan, and a pinch of nutmeg.
Notes
- Use a mix of white and dark meat: All-breast meat dries out in the sauce. A blend gives the bolognese its richness.
- Save that pasta water: The starchy water is what makes the sauce stick to the noodles.
- Cook the tomato paste before adding liquid: Two minutes of cooking the paste caramelizes it and deepens the flavour.