Do you have 6 hours to cook the best meat sauce you’ll ever try in your life? If the answer is yes keep reading
The world famous Ragù alla bolognese is a meat sauce that is traditionally paired with pasta or polenta. The word ragù is actually a derivation from the French “ragôuter” , which means “to weak up the appetite”. Across Italy one can find many variations of this sauce created in Bologna (i.e. ragù alla napoletana, ragù alla barese). The first cooking book that made reference to this sauce was written in early 800s, but only in 1982 the Italian Cooking Academy officially registered the original recipe at the Commerce Chamber of Bologna.
An authentic ragù must simmer on low heat for a long time. Centuries ago, the ragù was prepared with old cows and for this reason it was required 5 to 6 hours of slow simmering. In addition, milk or cream were also used to help break the meat fibers and give a certain “sweetness” to the sauce. Nowadays, the meat requires 3 to 4 hours of simmering, and milk or cream are optional.
Registered recipe at the Commerce Chamber of Bologna
Ingredients
- 300g of ground beef
- 150g of minced pancetta
- 50g of minced carrot
- 50g of minced celery
- 50g of minced onion
- 5 tbsp of tomato paste
- 300ml of water or beef broth
- 130ml of dry white wine
- 240ml of whole milk
- salt
- black pepper
Procedures
In a large saucepan cook the pancetta for about 5-7 minutes. Add the carrot, celery and onion and cook for an additional 8 minutes. Add the ground beef and cook stirring with a wooden spoon for about 10 minutes. Add the wine and bring to boil. Let it boil for a minute so that the alcohol evaporate. Add the tomato paste and the water or beef broth. Cover and cook the ragù at very low simmer for 2 hours adding 60ml of the milk every 15 minutes. During those two hours you should also add salt and pepper (season to taste). Keep on cooking for another one or two hours until the meat is very tender and the ragù is thick.
Note: sometimes is hard to find pancetta, and in that case I use a good cut of bacon.