Ragù Bolognese part 2 of 2

After researching the heck out of Bolognese Sauce in part 1, here are the results.

Ragu Bolognese (result)

This is, in hindsight, the general recipe we followed (based on the “official” recipe).

Ingredients

For the sauce:

  • Ground Veal / Pork (50/50)
  • Pancetta
  • Onions
  • Carrots
  • Celery
  • Tomato Paste
  • Dry White Wine
  • Beef Stock
  • Extra-virgine Olive Oil
  • Milk
  • Cream
  • Salt
  • Pepper

For the tagliatelle:

  • Flour
  • Eggs
  • Extra-virgin Olive Oil

And to finish off:

  • Parmezan Cheese

Steps

Part 1 is preparing and making the sauce:

  1. Cut the OnionsCarrots, and Celery brunoise.
  2. Stir-fry the three of them in some oil for about 8 minutes.
  3. Add the Pancetta and Ground Meat and stir-fry for another 8 minutes.
  4. Add Tomato Paste, some Extra-virgin Olive OilDry White Wine, and Beef Stock.
  5. Let it simmer for a few minutes.
  6. Add a splash of Milk.

Part 2 is letting the sauce get it’s flavor:

  1. Turn down the heat such that the sauce is simmering very slowly, leave it at that for about 4 to 6 hours, adding beef stock whenever it would get too dry.

Part 3 is making the pasta (the basics only, below won’t serve as a detailed pasta recipe):

  1. Mix Flour and Eggs and a little bit of Extra-virgin Olive Oil.
  2. Knead until mixed well (when pressing the dough it should bounce back a bit).
  3. Tightly wrap in foil and let it sit for 30 minutes.
  4. Use the Pasta Machine to roll out Tagliatelle.

Finishing up is as simple as:

  • Cooking the fresh pasta in a lot of very salty water;
  • Adding some Cream to the sauce and let it simmer along for a few minutes;
  • Draining the pasta, plating up, and grating some Parmezan Cheese on top.

So, how did the finished result turn out to be? Great, actually. Very different from “Spag Bol” indeed. We did decide that plain ground beef would’ve been nicer than veal, and that perhaps it would be wise to fry off the beef seperately. Oh and the fresh pasta makes quite a difference too.

Bon appetit!