Ragu alla Bolognese

Yield: Serves 4-6

I have been cooking for a lifetime. Meals have always been good; none has ever been produced which was not edible – more than a few had to be rescued, but were still delicious.

As it happens with time and experience, you begin to prepare meals unconsciously – with a little of this and that and, somehow, everyone enjoys.

I’m quickly learning that, by developing this blog and recipe book, the “this and that” has to go to the wayside; every meal has to be cooked or baked, tested and proven and sometimes more than once. When it is your turn to make it, it better be right.

While making this dish, it brought me back to Venice, Italy. Now that was a romantic country and experience. I'll tell a great story, with my next Italian dish posting. In the mean time, this should set the mood and get you ready to prepare this Ragu alla Bolognese on a lazy, Sunday afternoon.



Some recipes require little effort, but still accurate documentation. Other recipes demand meticulous research, as with this Bolognese sauce. I’ve always made a good one, so people tell me, but I decided that creating an “original” one was important, not just good flavor. As with many recipes, discovering that “the original” recipe rarely exists can be frustrating.

What is “original” in fact is not original; also, we assume “original” if made by world renowned or celebrity chefs, when in fact it may not be – their recipes may come close but, after all is said and done, they also are interpretations or variations with their preferences.

So, I’ve concluded that, if a recipe tastes good or extraordinary, it is an excellent recipe. What should be said, however, by cooks and bakers at all levels, that recipes which they offer are not “the recipe.” Recipes are not definitive – they never can be.

For some reason, I have taken extra care to offer this recipe to as true to an “original” that is possible, perhaps because it is considered to be a world classic.

I think you will enjoy this. But as always, feel free to experiment – add fennel to the Mirepoix, add mushrooms, garlic, cheeses and other ingredients or spices to the sauce that please your palette.

Guten Appetit…!

************************************************************

Ingredients

• 1 lb. Tagliatelle or Fettuccine (1)
• 2 oz butter, unsalted (2)
• 6 oz of thick pancetta or bacon rashers, diced (3)
• 1 large onion, medium chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
• 16 oz lean (85/15%) beef mince (4)
• 5 oz chicken livers, finely chopped (5)
• 2 cups beef stock - low sodium (6)
• 6 oz. can tomato paste
• ½ cup white wine (I used red cabernet sauvignon wine)
• 1 to 1-½ cup of milk or cream if required to make it thinner during simmering or to further tenderize the meat
• ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg (ground, in an emergency, may be used)
• Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Preparation - Sauce

1. Dice the pancetta or bacon
2. Dice the onion – medium
3. Slice carrot and celery into ¼ inch pieces
4. In a large skillet, heat ½ the butter until melted and hot
5. Add the speck (pancetta or bacon), cook until a nice golden brown
6. Add onion, carrot and celery – cook until soft and aromatic, 8 to 10 minutes
7. Increase heat, add remaining butter; add beef mince and brown
8. Optionally, add chicken liver – heat until the liver has changed color
9. Add beef stock, tomato puree, wine, nutmeg and salt and pepper
10. Bring all to a boil, reduce heat & slow simmer partially covered – 2 to 3 hours [add more milk if too dry]
11. garnish with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Preparation – Pasta & Serving

1. 30 minutes before the sauce is finished, prepare pasta to al dente (7)
2. Drain pasta quickly and minimally and serve into individual bowls (8)
3. Ladle ½ cup, more or less of ragù on top of pasta
4. Add fresh, grated Parmigiano-Reggiano on top of ragù
5. Garnish with a sprig of parsley, if desired

Footnotes:

(1) Original recipes are with Tagliatelle – flat pasta.
(2) In Bologna, butter reigns supreme; some recipes mix oil and butter
(3) Original recipes call for Pancetta
(4) Original recipes call for beef; variations are pork shoulder or sweet port sausage (casing removed)
(5) In some recipes or Italian regions, chicken liver is added for additional complex flavor or on special occasions
(6)Originally, beef stock is common, but mix with ½ beef and ½ chicken to cut the saltiness common in beef stocks
(7) Prepare pasta according to package instructions.
(8) Much argument exists, but a typical serving is approximately 4-5 oz.

...