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ragu sauce with pasta.

Traditional Ragu Sauce - Bolognese

Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours
Servings: 6
Calories: 335kcal
All the tips and tricks to make authentic ragu' sauce recipe - Once you try the original Italian bolognese sauce, there's no going back!
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Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 50 g carrot finely cubed
  • 50 g celery finely cubed
  • 50 g golden onion finely cubed
  • 150 g raw pancetta finely cubed
  • 300 g ground beef (preferably shoulder cut)
  • 200 ml dry white wine
  • 300 ml pureed tomatoes or 3 tablespoon triple concentrate tomato paste
  • 1 bay leaf optional
  • 100 ml vegetable stock or brodo di pollo (chicken stock)
  • 120 ml fresh whole milk

Instructions

  • Heat a large pot with 2 tablespoons of olive oil over low heat. Fold in the carrot, celery and onion and cook, stirring often for about 10 minutes, until the veggies have softened.
  • Heat another pan with the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat, fold in the pancetta and stir fry for 5 minutes, then add in the beef and continue to cook, stirring often, until it's browned.
  • Transfer the beef and pancetta into the pot with the veggies, and bring the temperature to medium-high. Pour in the wine and allow to evaporate, about 5 minutes.
  • Pour the tomato sauce into the pot, and add in the bay leaf (if using). Reduce heat to very low, partially cover the pot with a lid, then slowly cook the ragu' for at least 2 hours.
  • Stir the sauce occasionally, and if you see it's drying out, pour in a bit of stock. During the last half an hour of cooking, pour in the milk a little at a time, until fully incorporated.
  • The sauce is ready when it reaches a dense and rich texture. If it's still too runny, let it cook a little more .
  • Serve with egg tagliatelle or short pasta, and freshly-grated Parmesan cheese on the side.

Video

Notes

  • Chop the veggies by hand. I know that using a food processor might be tempting, but the hand-chopped soffritto gives the ragu' a unique texture.
  • Use freshly-minced beef, if possible. Try to avoid prepackaged supermarket minced beef, as it's usually too finely minced and you have no control over the meat cut used.
  • The meat and the soffritto need different timings and temperatures to cook, so you need one pan for each of them.
  • Brown the meat in one pan, then add it to the pan with the soffritto.
  • Alternatively, cook the vegetables first, remove them from the pan, then cook the meat, then add the veggies back in.
  • Use a large heavy-duty pan or a cast-iron pot, that will hold the heat steady.
  • If you use ground beef, the cooking process should take about 2 hours.
  • If you use knife-chopped meat instead you want to slow cook it for up to 4 hours until the meat breaks downs nicely into the sauce.
  • The traditional recipe, surprisingly, doesn't call for any kind of aromatic herbs. However, if using tomato passata or pelati, I recommend adding a bay leaf, to help level up the tomato acidity.
  • Cooking the bolognese at very low heat is the real secret that will thicken your sauce. 
  • Leave the salt and pepper out until the very end. The ragu' should be seasoned once it is cooked through.
How To Store It: Once cooked through, allow to cool and divide the bolognese sauce among freezer-friendly containers, and store in the freezer up to 1 month.
Bolognese keeps well in the fridge for up to 2 days.

Nutrition

Calories: 335kcal | Carbohydrates: 8g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 25g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 49mg | Sodium: 347mg | Potassium: 441mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 5g | Vitamin A: 1614IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 54mg | Iron: 2mg