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Ragu alla Bolognese by

Ingredients

I thought it would be cool to make a very traditional Ragu alla Bolognese; i.e. the sauce that was the catalyst for the famed 'Spaghetti Bolognese' dish a lot of us know and love. This dish is said to have originated in Italy's Bologna region hence the name. For anyone interested it was Pelligrino Artusi who first published ragu as a recipe back in 1891. 

The below recipe is just for the ragu sauce - it will make enough to top 6 servings of pasta. Best pasta to serve this with is tagliatelle, fettucine, or pappardelle. 

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 3+ hours

Total Time: Approx 6 hours

Servings: 6

EQUIPMENT

• ⁠Saucepan

INGREDIENTS

• 250g beef, hand minced (chuck, brisket, short rib, shank all work)⁣
• 250g pork, hand minced (shoulder is best)⁣
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil⁣ (EVOO)
• 1 onion, diced⁣
• 1 rib celery, diced⁣
• 1 carrot, diced⁣
• 2.5 tbs tomato paste (concentrated)⁣
• 1 cup red wine⁣
• 1 cup stock (chicken or beef) + more for topping up ⁣
• 1 cup whole milk⁣
• 1 cinnamon stick⁣
• 1 bay leaf⁣

• a largish segment of lemon peel⁣
• A little pinch of nutmeg⁣
• Salt & black pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

• ⁠Use a sharp knife or a heavy cleaver to finely chop the meat into a course mince.
• ⁠Heat a heavy bottomed pot on high-heat add enough EVOO to cover the bottom about 1/4 inch thick then add beef and saute for 6-7 minutes until browned on the outside. Remove the beef with a slotted spoon ensuring you leave rendered fat in the pot and set aside.
• ⁠Repeat the above step for the pork.
• ⁠Add onions, carrot, celery and saute for 15 - 20 minutes.
• ⁠Add red wine, then the beef and pork back in, then tomato paste, stock, milk, cinnammon, bay leaf, nutmeg, lemon peel. Give everything a good stir and season with salt (about 1 tbs) and black pepper
• ⁠Simmer on low heat for 3-6 hours - taste every half an hour; if it gets dry top up with either water or stock. It's done when the meat is tender and no longer chewy; obviously the longer you cook the more tender/melt in your mouth it will get. 

TO SERVE

• ⁠Tagliatelle Egg Pasta (cook according to packet instructions and add as much ragu as you like and a dash of reserved pasta water to make it a little saucy)
• ⁠Grated Parmiggiano Reggiano cheese
• ⁠Cracked Black pepper
• ⁠Glass of Red Wine! 

For those interested, below is a 2 min video of cooking process end to end.

Ragu alla Bolognese Vid 

Instructions

I thought it would be cool to make a very traditional Ragu alla Bolognese; i.e. the sauce that was the catalyst for the famed 'Spaghetti Bolognese' dish a lot of us know and love. This dish is said to have originated in Italy's Bologna region hence the name. For anyone interested it was Pelligrino Artusi who first published ragu as a recipe back in 1891. 

The below recipe is just for the ragu sauce - it will make enough to top 6 servings of pasta. Best pasta to serve this with is tagliatelle, fettucine, or pappardelle. 

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 3+ hours

Total Time: Approx 6 hours

Servings: 6

EQUIPMENT

• ⁠Saucepan

INGREDIENTS

• 250g beef, hand minced (chuck, brisket, short rib, shank all work)⁣
• 250g pork, hand minced (shoulder is best)⁣
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil⁣ (EVOO)
• 1 onion, diced⁣
• 1 rib celery, diced⁣
• 1 carrot, diced⁣
• 2.5 tbs tomato paste (concentrated)⁣
• 1 cup red wine⁣
• 1 cup stock (chicken or beef) + more for topping up ⁣
• 1 cup whole milk⁣
• 1 cinnamon stick⁣
• 1 bay leaf⁣

• a largish segment of lemon peel⁣
• A little pinch of nutmeg⁣
• Salt & black pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

• ⁠Use a sharp knife or a heavy cleaver to finely chop the meat into a course mince.
• ⁠Heat a heavy bottomed pot on high-heat add enough EVOO to cover the bottom about 1/4 inch thick then add beef and saute for 6-7 minutes until browned on the outside. Remove the beef with a slotted spoon ensuring you leave rendered fat in the pot and set aside.
• ⁠Repeat the above step for the pork.
• ⁠Add onions, carrot, celery and saute for 15 - 20 minutes.
• ⁠Add red wine, then the beef and pork back in, then tomato paste, stock, milk, cinnammon, bay leaf, nutmeg, lemon peel. Give everything a good stir and season with salt (about 1 tbs) and black pepper
• ⁠Simmer on low heat for 3-6 hours - taste every half an hour; if it gets dry top up with either water or stock. It's done when the meat is tender and no longer chewy; obviously the longer you cook the more tender/melt in your mouth it will get. 

TO SERVE

• ⁠Tagliatelle Egg Pasta (cook according to packet instructions and add as much ragu as you like and a dash of reserved pasta water to make it a little saucy)
• ⁠Grated Parmiggiano Reggiano cheese
• ⁠Cracked Black pepper
• ⁠Glass of Red Wine! 

For those interested, below is a 2 min video of cooking process end to end.

Ragu alla Bolognese Vid 

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