Recipe Ragu alla bolognese

[HairyHeaven]

I've seen a few recipes for this on here, but thought I'd add my own spin. While I've included measurements for the liquids I don't actually measure them properly myself (I'm a bit of a 'pinch' of this and a 'glug' of that), so use your own judgement if you think you need more or less. Alternatively just take longer to reduce the liquid at the relevant stages.

Ingredients:
1 small carrot, 1 stick of celery & one small onion, finely diced (soffritto)
3 medium or 2 large cloves of garlic, hand crushed
3 slices of pancetta, or 50g of speck (I prefer a smoked speck, it gives an additional depth of flavor)
800g (or 1.8lbs) of beef mince
1 cup red wine (something a bit hearty)
1 cup milk
2 cups beef stock
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup passata (small batch recipe here Recipe - Passata (small batch))
2 bay leaves
olive oil, salt & pepper

Heat a deep, heavy based pan over a moderate heat, add a splash of oil, and fry soffritto & garlic for about 8 mins until translucent. Add pancetta/speck and cook for another 3-4 minutes until fat has rendered & meat has crisped slightly. Remove solids from pan.
Increase heat slightly and add mince**. Cook & squish with a wooden spoon until mince is all broken up & browned off.
Add red wine and cook, stirring, for about 10 mins until wine is reduced (note, the meat will go a really yucky shade of grey about now, but it will improve).
Add the milk and cook, stirring, for another 10 mins until the liquid is reduced
Add beef stock and the soffrito/pancetta mix and stir through so everything is combined.
Add the passata, tomato paste, bay leaves & seasoning. Stir until everything is mixed in well, reduce the heat until it's simmering, stick a lid on the pan, and leave it to simmer for at least two hours (you'll need to stir it fairly often to stop it sticking).
Remove the lid, remove the bay leaves, and stir every few minutes or so until the liquid has reduced. Depending on the volume of liquid, this may take up to an hour

**

There should be enough oil left from the soffrito/pancetta mix but if you think you need more add a small amount of olive oil​

It's now ready to use with your favourite pasta. My favourite is lasagne

 

[Morning Glory]

Thanks for this - I was intrigued by the milk. Is that a 'traditional' addition to ragu?

I've also been pondering about what the difference is between ragu and bolognese. In the UK, I've noticed the word 'ragu' popping up in ready meals and even on packs of meat being sold to make it. I'm sure this is a recent thing and that in the UK we always called it bolognese. I am not saying that this was or is correct in terms of the original Italian meaning of the words. I'm talking about the useage in the UK. I'd be interested to know if there are different definitions elsewhere.

 

[TastyReuben]

Thanks for this - I was intrigued by the milk. Is that a 'traditional' addition to ragu?

I've also been pondering about what the difference is between ragu and bolognese. In the UK, I've noticed the word 'ragu' popping up in ready meals and even on packs of meat being sold to make it. I'm sure this is a recent thing and that in the UK we always called it bolognese. I am not saying that this was or is correct in terms of the original Italian meaning of the words. I'm talking about the useage in the UK. I'd be interested to know if there are different definitions elsewhere.

Wikipedia says the proper Italian name is ragu alla bolognese. I can't vouch for that, being a clod-hopper from Ohio.

Also from Wikipedia:

"Outside Italy, the phrase "Bolognese sauce" often refers to a tomato-based sauce to which minced beef (or pork) has been added; such sauces typically bear less resemblance to ragù alla bolognesebeing more similar in fact to the ragù alla napoletana from the tomato-rich south of the country. Although in Italy ragù alla bolognese is not used with spaghetti,[2][3][4] so-called "spaghetti bolognese" has become a popular dish in many other parts of the world."

My own experience here is "ragu" colloquially just means tomato sauce, red sauce, marina...they're interchangeable, probably due in large part to a very popular brand of jarred sauces that are named "Ragu."

If someone here referred to a sauce as "bolognese," I'd assume they had a working knowledge of the actual definition, like they'd cooked it before, or was otherwise interested in food. Just in my own family, I'll guarantee you, if I asked, "Do you like spaghetti with ragu?" I'd get 8 yes's out of 8 people. If I asked, "Do you like spaghetti with bolognese sauce? I'd get 8 "what's that?" out of 8 people, and I don't think my family is that unique.

There's probably a generational aspect, though. The generation after me (my niblings) are all a little more food-aware, even if they don't cook. Still, only about half would know what bolognese is, and even then, just in general terms.

 

[Morning Glory]

If someone here referred to a sauce as "bolognese," I'd assume they had a working knowledge of the actual definition

Not the same here - 'spag bol' is one of the first things every student learns to cook. Even those who claim not to be able to cook will say - 'well I can make spag bol and that's about it'. I'm in no way saying it is what the original dish is or was supposed to be - but here it has come to mean minced meat cooked in a tomato sauce.

 

[epicuric]

Thanks for this - I was intrigued by the milk. Is that a 'traditional' addition to ragu?

I've also been pondering about what the difference is between ragu and bolognese. In the UK, I've noticed the word 'ragu' popping up in ready meals and even on packs of meat being sold to make it. I'm sure this is a recent thing and that in the UK we always called it bolognese. I am not saying that this was or is correct in terms of the original Italian meaning of the words. I'm talking about the useage in the UK. I'd be interested to know if there are different definitions elsewhere.

I believe it is. I've cooked Bolognese/ragu using milk, from memory it is absorbed before adding wine or tomatoes.

 

[Burt Blank]

When I was a kid my friends parents came over from Italy to work in the brick making industry. His mum would add mince left over roast meats to the fried mince ragu after 2 hours. I still do it when I have left over meat. It make the ragu velvety and it clings to any pasta beautifully. Ps as an honorary polentone I prefer ragu with polenta. Meatball Ragu