A dish I love to make is Ragù alla Bolognese. A meat sauce that I had more controverse talks about than any other dish I make. And the reasoning is simply because I don’t think there is any specific way to make it.

Yes, there is the traditional description „Ragù Classico Bolognese“ by the „Academia Italiana Della Cucina“ (compare https://www.accademiaitalianadellacucina.it/it/ricette/ricetta/rag%C3%B9-classico-bolognese) which has the original traditonal recipe… only that most italians I know do not make their bolognese in any way shape or form similar to this one. This might be the cultural heritage and original version of the dish… but I tend to stick more to the reality of how people actually make the dish on a day to day basis in their own home.

And this is where my recipe stems from. It takes traditional parts and is actually rather close to the „Ragù Classico Bolognese“ but then goes its own path more often than not.

But enough talk let’s get to the recipe.

 

Ingredients:

500g Salsiccia (italian sausage, comes in many varieties, most are tasty, use what you like.) OR 500g Beef Mince (simpler, but you will season a lot more later)
2 Carrots
75g Celery
1-2 Onions
2 cans Canned Tomatoes (the good ones, not bottom shelf)
Red Wine
Salt, Pepper

 

How to make it:

1.) Brunoise the carrots, celery and onions (small ~5mm cubes)
2.) Put them in a large pot at medium heat with some olive oil
3.) Simmer at low to medium heat until softened (you can leave some crunch if you prefer that)
4.) Add some butter and the Salsiccia (removed from the casing) (or the beef mince) and brown on high heat.
5.) Add a bit of red wine – cook on low to medium until it completely evaporated. Rinse and repeat until you grow bored of it or about half a bottle of wine is evaporated. This is purely for taste. And it’s worth the time you take for it.
6.) Add the canned tomatoes. Mash them if you got whole canned ones, or not if they are diced already.
7.) Cook with lid on for some time. 1-2 hours is a good start. Longer does not hurt. 3 hours? 4? Your call.
8.) For the last hour cook with open lid so you can evaporate liquid and reduce the sauce down to a very meaty texture without much liquid left. If you want to make this step a bit quicker you can brown some tomato paste in a skillet and then add it to thicken the sauce. Please don’t thicken the sauce with flour. Or do – it’s your call obviously.
9.) Season the sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Always season last after the sauce has thickened. If you chose a good Salsiccia this step more often than not is not even neccessary.

 

 

And that’s it already. My way of doing a Ragù alla Bolognese. Honestly, it’s not a difficult dish, it just takes a lot of time. Eat it with pasta, fresh or dry, both taste good honestly, but you be the judge of what you prepare. I would just recommend to take a thicker, bigger noodle such as Fettucine so you can really soak up that sauce. And finish the pasta in the sauce itself for maximum tastiness.
Put some Pecorino or Grana Padano on top if you want and enjoy a great dish.

My picture has freshly made extra thick Fettucine and Grana Padano on top – just the way I personally love it.

 

But you can make it in many different ways.

For example:

With beef mince and Spaghetti the way my wife prefers it:

 

Or with dry Fettucine and Salsiccia:

 

Make it your dish, change whatever you want, try it with pork over beef, with fresh tomatoes, with herbs added in the mix. You can even add some cream in the end (only towards the end though!) and have a extra thick texture. Do whatever you want – as long as it’s tasty!