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Ragù alla Bolognese
Ragù alla Bolognese

Ragù alla Bolognese

Martin Booth

Martin Booth

Prep 30 mins30m
Cook 4 hrs4h
Serves 4

This is based on the 1982 recipe notarized and deposited at the Bologna Chamber of Commerce in 1982. There are only minor changes which you can omit if you'd prefer to be completely traditional:

The addition of garlic to the soffritto and a bit more passata.

For the best flavour, it is important to seek out egg pasta (which can be found both dried and fresh).

The most traditional pasta to use would be tagliatelle but pappardelle works well too, particularly if you can only find egg pappardelle in the supermarket

Pancetta is the traditional and correct pork to use, however unsmoked bacon (rarely found in the US) can be ok, but smoked bacon will alter the flavour of the dish and definitely should not be used

↬ Adapted from Italian Academy of Cuisine's 1982 Ragù alla Bolognese

Ingredients

  • 400 g Lean mince beef
  • 150 g Pancetta (unsmoked)
  • 60 g Carrot
  • 60 g Celery
  • 60 g Onion
  • 2-3 Garlic cloves
  • 400 g Passata
  • 1 l Vegetable stock
  • 240 ml Whole milk
  • 120 ml Dry white wine
  • 360 g Egg pasta
  • Olive oil

Instructions

Keep screen awake
  • 1
    Finely chop all the vegetables. This is quickest and easiest if you have a mezzaluna. Add them to a frying pan with enough olive oil that they won't burn and fry them on a low heat slowly until the onion has gone translucent to make a soffritto
  • 2
    While the soffritto is cooking, fry the mince beef in a saucepan. This can be done on a higher heat than the soffritto and more quickly. Once it's fully cooked, drain the fat and return it to the saucepan.
  • 3
    Add the wine to the saucepan with the beef and let it reduce until it has evaporated off. Whenever the soffritto is done it can be added to the saucepan too. As soon as the wine is evaporated you can add the passata, the stock and some water. The water is to ensure the sauce doesn't dry out.. if you cook this without a lid on, you'll need to keep adding water, whereas with a lid it will need much less
  • 4
    Finely chop the pancetta (this can also be done with a mezzaluna). and use the now empty frying pan to cook that too. Once done, add it to the saucepan with everything else
  • 5
    Add a generous amount of salt and pepper, put a lid on the saucepan (if you have one) and let it simmer slowly for at least . About an hour before the end, you should add the milk. It can take or so to reduce a sauce that has had the milk added and a fair amount of water, so you should remove the lid approximately an hour before you intend to use the sauce so that you can carefully let it reduce down to the desired consistency (it should be a sauce, not a soup)
  • 6
    Your sauce is now done. Follow the instructions on the pasta to cook and if you find you sauce getting too thick, use some of the pasta water to get it to the correct consistency (but be careful not to let it dry out too much and stick to the bottom of the pan)

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