Ragù alla Bolognese

Name: Ragù alla Bolognese
Prep time: 15 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: Minced beef: 500 g; Butter: 50 g; Extra Virgin olive oil: 1 tbsp; Carrot: 150 g; Celery root: 150 g; Onion: 1 pcs; Milk: 200 ml; White wine: 200 ml; Nutmeg: 1 pinch of; Italian canned tomatos: 600 g; Parsley root: 50 g; Salt: to taste; Grounded black pepper: to taste

Features:

Cuisine:

Italian

3 h 30 min
Serves 4
Medium

Ingredients

500 g Minced beef
50 g Butter
or ghee
1 tbsp Extra Virgin olive oil
150 g Carrot
150 g Celery root
1 pcs Onion
medium-sized
200 ml Milk
200 ml White wine
1 pinch of Nutmeg
600 g Italian canned tomatos
whole, peeled
50 g Parsley root
optionally
to taste Salt
to taste Grounded black pepper

Directions

Ragù alla Bolognese is one of the most known meat-based sauces in the world. The sauce originates from Bologna, Italy.

It’s interesting that on the menu we often see spaghetti Bolognese, which doesn’t actually exist in traditional Italian cuisine. The thing is that Italians developed recommendations on matching pasta shapes with pasta sauces. According to them ragù alla Bolognese cannot be paired with spaghetti because of its shape – the sauce slips right off.

Ragù alla Bolognese has become so popular that there are now thousands of its variations, and some of them are too different from the original one. That’s why on October 17, 1982 Accademia Italiana della Cucina registered the classic recipe for ragù alla Bolognese in order to protect it as part of the cultural heritage of Italy.

I suggest you make ragù alla Bolognese to Marcella Hazan’s (a legendary Italian-born cooking writer) recipe that adheres to the principles of the traditinal one.

Tips and tricks:

Beef mince shouldn’t be too lean, otherwise you’ll end up with not sweet enough ragu.
Add salt right after you added mince to make sure that the beef gives all its juices and taste to sauce.
Cook beef in milk before adding wine and tomatoes to protect it from sourness and keep it tender.
Simmer uncovered for quite a while, at least 3 h.

The recipe’s from Marcella Hazan’s book “Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking”.

For dairy-free version please skip the step with milk.

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Steps

1 Done 15 min	PREPARE VEGETABLES Cut the onion, carrot, celery and parsley root into small cubes (0,5х0,5cm). In a high-sided skillet, heat olive oil and butter, add the onion and cook over medium heat until transparent. Add the carrot and celery and cook for 5 min.
2 Done 10 min	ADD MEAT To the vegetables, add the minced beef and season with a fair amount of salt. Cook until the mince is browned. Note! Add salt in the beginning to make sure that the beef gives all its juices.
3 Done 4 min	ADD MILK Add the milk and cook stirring over medium heat (a boil should be quite vigorous, but make sure not to burn) until the milk is evaporated (for 3-4 min). The milk stage protects the meat from wine and tomato sourness, and keeps it tender. Add a pinch of nutmeg in the end.
4 Done 2 min	ADD WINE Add the wine and cook stirring over medium heat (a boil should be quite vigorous, but make sure not to burn) until the alcohol is evaporated (approx. 2 min).
5 Done 3 h	ADD TOMATOES AND KEEP COOKING Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook uncovered for at least 3 h, stirring occasionally. Each time when you see that the sauce gets thick – add some boiling water. The sauce is done when the fat starts to separate from the sauce and sticks on the sides of the pan.
6 Done	SERVE AND KEEP Serve be dressing tagliatelle with or use for lasagna and other foods. Sprinkle with ground black pepper and parmesan to serve. The sauce keeps well in the fridge for about 3 days. It freezes well, too; to serve after freezing, defrost first and then cook for 2 min in a pan with 1 tbsp olive oil to deliver its taste and fragrance to the full.