Main Italian

Matt Preston’s quick 10-minute blonde bolognese

Name: Matt Preston’s quick 10-minute blonde bolognese pasta recipe
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: /italian
Ingredients: 40g butter, melted, plus 20g extra; 2 tsp cornflour; 500g bucatini pasta (substitute spaghetti or linguine); 40.00 ml extra virgin olive oil; 500g chicken mince; 150g bacon, cut into long 1cm-wide slices; 200g button mushrooms, roughly chopped; 4 long green shallots, sliced; 2 tsp thyme leaves; 3 garlic cloves, crushed; 20.00 ml soy sauce; 125ml white wine; 1 tsp chicken stock powder; 80g parmesan; Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

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by Matt Preston

delicious. senior editor

Jun 09, 2026

“So, your original bolognese ragu from the Emilia Romagna region of Italy never had much tomato in it, but could include such random additions as milk and chicken livers. That inspired this sauce, made from frying chicken mince, long green shallot coins and bacon with diced mushrooms in butter. I like bucatini with this – this pasta with a hole through the middle seems to suck up the juices rather nicely, and I like the way the little nuggets of mince stick to the outside like ants climbing a twig.” – Matt Preston

40g butter, melted, plus 20g extra
2 tsp cornflour
500g bucatini pasta (substitute spaghetti or linguine)
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
500g chicken mince
150g bacon, cut into long 1cm-wide slices
200g button mushrooms, roughly chopped
4 long green shallots, sliced
2 tsp thyme leaves
3 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbs soy sauce
1/2 cup (125ml) white wine
1 tsp chicken stock powder
1 cup (80g) finely grated parmesan
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon

Method

1.

Combine the melted butter and cornflour in a small bowl and set aside.
2.

Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add pasta and cook for 2 minutes less than packet instructions. Drain pasta, reserving some cooking water, and return to pan.
3.

Meanwhile, heat the oil and extra butter in a large frypan over high heat. Add mince and bacon and cook, stirring occasionally, until mince starts to brown. Add mushrooms and cook for a further 3 minutes, or until mushrooms soften. Add shallot, thyme, garlic and soy. Stir over heat for 1 minute to sizzle away. Pour in white wine to moisten, scraping base of pan with a spoon. Season with the chicken stock instead of salt and stir in the cornflour and butter mixture until combined. Toss mixture through the pasta with half the parmesan, adding a splash of reserved cooking water if the pasta looks a bit dry.
4.

Serve topped with remaining parmesan and lemon zest.