In Italy, where food is an extremely serious matter, ragù alla bolognese is something quite special.
Ragù alla bolognese is the king of all Italian sauces, well known throughout the world. One of the characteristics of ragù alla bolognese is that it does not contain many tomatoes, but is rich in meat. It is excellent as an accompaniment to pasta, indispensable for lasagne, goes well with gnocchi and the list goes on 🍝🍝🍝 .
Of course, there is no one and only one recipe, because every housewife has her own recipe for it. The basic ingredients are precisely defined. In 1982, the Italian Academy of Cooking (Academia Italiana della Cucina) officially registered a classic recipe which must include onions, celery stalks, carrots, pancetta, lean minced beef (and certainly not pork), tomatoes, milk and white wine. The first record of meat ragù with pasta dates back to 18th century in the Bologna area, and the first recipe for Bolognese ragù was published in 1891 by Pellegrino Artusi in his cookbook.
Italians never serve it with spaghetti, but always with wide noodles (pappardelle, fettuccine) or with some short pasta (rigatoni or penne).
The word ragù comes from the French - ragôut or ragoûter means to whet the appetite.
Ingredients:
- 800 grams minced fresh beef meat
- 250 grams unsmoked pancetta
- 100 grams carrot
- 100 grams celery root
- 100 grams onion
- 250 grams tomato sauce
- 400 ml fresh milk
- olive oil
- salt
- pepper
I haven’t used wine in my version of Bolognese ragù – but I had a sip of a good white wine while cooking 🍷 😊 .
Preparation:
You will need about one hour for preparation and two hours for cooking.
Chopped or minced the pancetta, onions, carrots and celery.
Roast gently the pancetta until it starts to release its fat.
Add the onions and roast until the onions are transparent. Stir time to time.
Add the carrot and roast for another 5 minutes. Use medium heat and be careful not to burn all.
Then add the celery and roast for another 5 minutes.
Now add the meat and roast until it is lightly browned. The meat will release its juices, allow it to dry out and to become brown a little.
At this point add the tomato sauce and milk and mix well. Season the mixture with salt and pepper.
Cover the pan and cook slowly for about 2 hours. Stir from time to time. If it looks dry, then add a more milk.
Whatever pasta you will use, don’t forget to sprinkle a on top some Parmesan cheese.
In our family we really love the Bolognese sauce. We prepare it regularly in larger quantities and save small portions in the freezer. And because I'm not Italian 😊, this time I prepared it with spaghetti (and because I didn't have any other pasta at home).
Bon Appetite 🍽️ 🍴 😋
Thanks for reading,
feel free to leave a comment, I will be glad to reply to.
Best regards, @miljo76
