Traditional Ragu alla Bolognese

I believe that my food blog wouldn’t be complete without my own version of Ragù alla Bolognese. It was the first authentic Italian dish I cooked by myself, and has to be one of my favourites.

The traditional Ragu alla Bolognese is a very simple and tasty dish which is focussed on high quality ingredients and a low and slow cooking process. The sauce derives most of its flavour from the quality of the meat and the slow cooking process so it’s important that none of these are neglected.

A quick tip: for a richer sauce use a full-bodied red wine (such as a Chianti or a Barolo) and for a lighter, more elegant sauce I’d recommend a dry white wine (such as a Chablis, a bone-dry Riesling or a Pinot Grigio). Just make sure your wine is good enough to drink as you will enjoy it more in the sauce!

I also use pasta such as Parpadelle/Tagliatelle/Fettucce or shapes such as penne rigate (rigged)/paccheri/millerighe as these compliment the rich and thick sauce better than other pasta varieties.

Let me know what you think!

Ingredients (serves 5-6)

400/500g of Parpadelle/Tagliatelle/Fettucce/Penne Rigate/Paccheri/Millerighe pasta

50g cubed pancetta

200g Beef mince

200g pork mince

1 large onion finely diced

1 large carrot, finely diced

1 celery stalk, finely diced

1 tablespoon of butter

3 or 4 tablespoons of tomato puree

100 ml milk

175ml of quality dry red/white wine

500ml of beef/chicken stock (more may be required, depending on the cooking time

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Freshly grated Parmesan (Parmiggiano Reggiano)

2 sprigs of fresh Rosemary

Sea Salt and Black Pepper

2 Bay leaves

Method

1. Firstly heat a little olive oil and the butter in a large, deep pan on a medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook until the meat colours.
2. Add the onion, celery and carrot and fry until they soften. This should take around 3-4 mins. Then crumble in the mince and turn up the heat, cooking until all the meat is coloured.
3. Next, add in the wine and cook off the alcohol, this should take 2-3 minutes. Add the milk (this helps tenderise the meat) and then the tomato puree and stir.
4. Add a little stock and once the mixture is starting to bubble, turn the heat down to a simmer.
5. Taste, season and add the rosemary and bay leaves if you wish. These are unauthentic additions, but I believe they help enhance the flavour.
6. Simmer for 1hr 30 at the least (traditionally this is done for over 4 hours), adding a little stock at intervals if the sauce looks dry.
7. Place the pasta in salted boiling water and cook until al dente.
8. Once you are satisfied with the consistency of the sauce, take off the heat. Add parmesan to taste (lots if you are like me and love it) and stir in your pasta. Serve with an extra topping of freshly grated parmesan, and season with salt and black pepper. Enjoy.