Recipe Spaghetti Bolognaise

[MypinchofItaly]

Oh c'mon. Why speechless?
Give me a well thought out rationale and I'll chop finely by hand

When you cut vegetables with a knife for soffritto (onion, carrot, celery), you can control the size of the pieces. This allows the soffritto to retain a slightly textured structure. If you grate them instead, you get a pulp that tends to break down completely.
Moreover cut pieces release their liquids more slowly and cook more evenly. Instead the grated vegetables, release a lot of water immediately, which can cause them to “boil” rather than sauté.

 

[Barriehie]

Re Marco Pierro White - thoughts on grating the veg? 'Offical' recipe says chop very finely, dont blitz?

TBH I blitz.

I'm too lazy to wash the jillion cup blitzer I have so I chop. Plus, karadekoolaid made good points on chopping. I come from the land of the French mirepoix.

 

[Z-Cook]

I cut mine into what's called brunoise, because the soffrito for a bolognese is exactly the same as a French mirepoix. All the vegetables diced into (approximately) the same size.
Cooking logic is that they then all cook (on a low to medium heat) at the same speed. When blitzed, the finer bits will cook faster (and may even burn) while the thicker bits will take longer to cook.

When you cut vegetables with a knife for soffritto (onion, carrot, celery), you can control the size of the pieces. This allows the soffritto to retain a slightly textured structure. If you grate them instead, you get a pulp that tends to break down completely.
Moreover cut pieces release their liquids more slowly and cook more evenly. Instead the grated vegetables, release a lot of water immediately, which can cause them to “boil” rather than sauté.

Fair enough. Same reason I always finely hand chop beef for chile con carne and certain NewMex chile stews and never use ground beef.

That said, I dont blitz the ragu veg to a pulp at all and the frying is gentle.

Actually, the boiling comment is very pertinent MypinchofItaly. Next time I'll hand chop and see what the difference is to my usual mini chopper routine. Thx all.

 

[MypinchofItaly]

Fair enough. Same reason I always finely hand chop beef for chile con carne and certain NewMex chile stews and never use ground beef.

That said, I dont blitz the ragu veg to a pulp at all and the frying is gentle.

Actually, the boiling comment is very pertinent MypinchofItaly. Next time I'll hand chop and see what the difference is to my usual mini chopper routine. Thx all.

Let us know how it goes!

 

[blades]

As someone who has been on a journey to cook amazing Bolognaise for a while, I've seen a lot of variants. Inspired by this thread I had another root around the web and was surprised that the City Of Bologna actually updated their official recipe from the one published in 1982 about two years ago and they lodged a notarised deed at the Bologna Chamber Of Commerce in April 2023! That's how serious they are about this business!

Here it is: DEPOSITATA LA RINNOVATA RICETTA DEL VERO RAGU' ALLA BOLOGNESE | Camera di Commercio di Bologna

INGREDIENTS AND DOSES (FOR 6 PEOPLE)
Coarsely ground beef: 400 g;
Sliced fresh pork belly: 150 g; (note original Italian is 'Pancetta fresca di maiale a fette' so it's not just any old raw pork belly but Italian cured)
Half an onion: about 60 g;
1 carrot: about 60 g;
1 celery stalk: about 60 g;
1 glass of red or white wine;
Tomato puree: 200 g;
Double concentrated tomato paste: 1 tablespoon;
1 glass of whole milk (optional);
Light meat or vegetable broth (or stock cube);
Extra virgin olive oil: 3 tablespoons;
Salt and pepper.

PROCEDURE
In a heavy, high-quality nonstick saucepan (made of aluminum or enameled cast iron) 24-26 cm in diameter (earthenware was once widely used), melt the minced or chopped pancetta in 3 tablespoons of oil. Then, add the finely chopped herbs (do not use a blender) and cook the mixture slowly over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon (the onion must not taste burnt). Increase the heat and add the minced meat. Cook, stirring thoroughly, for about ten minutes until sizzling.
Pour in the wine and let it evaporate and reduce completely, until the wine smell is gone. Then, add the tomato puree and passata. Stirring well, pour in a cup of boiling broth (but you can also use just water) and cook gently, covered, for about 2 hours (up to 3 hours depending on your preference and the meats used), adding the hot broth as needed. Halfway through cooking, following a recommended ancient tradition, you can add the milk, which should be completely reduced. Finally, once cooked, season with salt and pepper. The ragù should be a beautiful dark orange color, enveloping and creamy.

Mine is not as sophisticated as yours. It is ground pork (my wife is allergic to beef), crushed whole tomatoes, tomato sauce and paste, olive oil, white wine, worcestershire sauce salt, pepper and basil. I'm sure the members of the camera di comercio would snub it but it is tasty. I promise to add two more ingredients taken from your recipe - whole milk and bacon (my favorite type of pork belly.)

 

[badjak]

Yeah, mine wouldn't pass as I use far too many onions & garlic.
Plus chili (fresh or powdered) of course.
But I like it

 

[Barriehie]

Mine is more like tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, celery, and chili's in the tomato sauce w/out the milk and sometimes a splash of wine. Sometimes it's the leftover veggies in a pot and see what comes out.

 

[blades]

Mine is more like tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, celery, and chili's in the tomato sauce w/out the milk and sometimes a splash of wine. Sometimes it's the leftover veggies in a pot and see what comes out.

Reality is that, when you prepare to cook, you are limited by what you have on hand. I search the pantry every time I cook.

 

[blades]

Yeah, mine wouldn't pass as I use far too many onions & garlic.
Plus chili (fresh or powdered) of course.
But I like it

My mother used to say "If it doesn't have garlic, it must be dessert."