Ragù Bolognese

[Vader]

Sauce Bolognese! Who - apart from vegetarians obviously - doesn’t love it? But how to get it right? Hardly any other sauce (or better: ragù) has to suffer so much in restaurants or private kitchens. While the results might still be yummy, most of the time they turn out to be a tomato sauce with minced meat and an overload of "Italian herbs" like thyme, rosemary, sage and oregano, all served with spaghetti. People couldn’t be more wrong. The original recipe didn’t even include tomatoes or herbs at all.

Spaghetti are a no go as well, because they are way to thin to pick up the rich and almost creamy sauce. The right pasta for Bolognese (apart from Lasagne) is tagliatelle – penne rigata are also acceptable. As for the minced meat – originally chunks of beef were used and cooked until falling apart.

So how to do a Bolognese in true Bologna style? In 1982 the following recipe, created by the "Academy of Italian Cuisine", was registered at the "Chamber for Commerce and Industry" in Bologna. It is thus to be regarded the traditional one, though it uses minced meat and a bit of tomato.

Before we start cooking, one thing should be clear – if you have like 30 minutes to serve your Bolognese, forget it. Don’t even bother thinking about it. Call your local pizza taxi. Bolognese is the ultimate slow food - the ragù needs at least 2 hours to cook. Better 3. Some say it takes 9 hours until the taste is right. In Bologna there are restaurants where they let it simmer for up to 24 hours. Apart from the quality of products and produces, time is the essential resource to get it right.

What we need:

Ragù bolognese (ricetta tradizionale)
With good pasta and parmesan yields 4 servings

(Measures converted by me, so better double check)

300gr / 0.7 lbs of minced beef (from the rib, ideally not too fat)
150gr / 0.35 lbs pancetta dolce (unsmoked and slightly salted air dried bacon)
50 gr / 0.12 lbs carrots
50 gr / 0.12 lbs celery
50 gr / 0.12 lbs onions
5 Tbs pulped tomatoes or 1 Tbs of triple-concentrated tomato puree
½ glas of white wine
200 ml full fat milk
stock (beef)
butter
olive oil
salt, pepper

*EDIT: Corrected the measures*

Now all is relatively easy. Finely chop onions, celery, carrots and pancetta.

Melt a knob of butter in a pot and add a bit of olive oil on low heat. Put in the vegetables and the pancetta and slowly cook for at least 20 minutes to make a soffritto. We don’t want any roasting or coloring at this stage, just let the vegetables sweat to make them all soft and sweet (carbs are being turned into sugar).

After 20 minutes or so increase the heat to max and immediately put in the the beef. Let fry until it gets all crumbly. If it draws water, which can always happen, let fry until the water is gone. Deglaze with white wine, and wait for the wine to boil away.

Add tomato pulp and fill up with stock. Stir and let cook and low heat for 3 hours. Towards the end add the milk and season to taste with salt & freshly ground black pepper.

Eat.

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Now of course you could add a bay leave, a bit of freshly grated nutmeg and a clove (or maybe a twig of rosemary or whatever you like) - that's of course no mortal sin - but the taste of the simple dish is so delicate and well balanced that too much of everything simply destroys its unique character. Try it, you can always spice it up afterwards.

[rdhopeca]

300gr / 700 lbs of minced beef (from the rib, ideally not too fat)
150gr / 350 lbs pancetta dolce (unsmoked and slightly salted air dried bacon)
50 gr / 120 lbs carrots
50 gr / 120 lbs celery
50 gr / 120 lbs onions
5 Tbs pulped tomatoes or 1 Tbs of triple-concentrated tomato puree
½ glas of white wine
200 ml full fat milk
stock (beef)
butter
olive oil
salt, pepper

Does that really say 700 lbs of minced beef???

[Vader]

You see what I mean - always double check stuff

300gr / 0.7 lbs of minced beef (from the rib, ideally not too fat)
150gr / 0.35 lbs pancetta dolce (unsmoked and slightly salted air dried bacon)
50 gr / 0.12 lbs carrots
50 gr / 0.12 lbs celery
50 gr / 0.12 lbs onions


That's it. Hopefully.

[rdhopeca]

I was almost going to go check the math myself, but I was trying to imagine the size of the pot I was going to need...

[Vader]

I was almost going to go check the math myself, but I was trying to imagine the size of the pot I was going to need...

Once you have tested it you will find out that there simply isn't a pot large enough anyway - I could eat 700 lbs of it no problem .

This is what it looks like:

[dlbpharmd]

Looks good! thanks for the recipe, I'm gonna try it.

[Prebe]

I see you have given in to temptation and garnished with fresh basil?

No, seriously, it looks lovely, and it's the way I cook ragu bolognese as well. Althought I use red wine and add 4 bay-leaves and a sprig of tyme while simmering. Furthermore, I replace the milk with cream, but then again I'm a pig!

[Vader]

[...] but then again I'm a pig!

Knasende sprøde?

Seriously, try it with white wine. I think it really let's the ragù keep a "fresh" note even after hours of cooking.

[Prebe]

Ha!

"Knasende sprøde" Indeed, like the bacon.

I'll try with the white next time. I see what you mean about the hint of freshness even after slow cooking.

[Harbinger]

I make lasagna bolognese a few times a year. I make the ragu and a bechemel to hold it together and keep it from drying out. What I like about bolognese is that it showcases the meat. I use ground sirloin, ground veal, and ground pork- 8 oz each. They are simmered in milk and then simmered in wine.

The longer you boil tomatoes, the more you reduce them and the richer the sauce is. I think a lot of people in Italy cook sauce for 8 hours plus.

I make the entire dish in about two hours from a recipe in Cook's Illustrated called lasagna bolognese simplified. Everyone lucky enough to have tried it says it's the best lasagna they've ever had.

[StevieG]

I tried this recipe last night, and it was Beautiful!

It definitely benefited from white wine as opposed to red. And the other ingredient I've not previously put in is the milk. This gave it a slightly creamy texture.

Overall, it was delicious! Thanks for the recipe, Vader.

Edit: And I also have a decent cut to my thumb from trying to chop the Pancetta with a blunt knife