Ragù alla bolognese
Perhaps the classic par excellence, Italy’s greatest export hit. The ragu from Bologna that conquered the world. There are many versions of this feel-good dish. As many as there are families. Every grandma makes the very best and nothing tastes so much like fine childhood days like pasta with ragu.
The Academia Italina della Cucina has now agreed on a classic basic recipe. This is also the basis for our recipe. Among the ragu disciples of the world, however, there are fundamental issues that are being discussed heatedly.
What kind of minced meat is used: In the original it is only ground beef and ideally shoulder or neck with a slightly higher fat content. Once through the meat grinder is enough to leave a fine structure in the ragu.
Does it have to be pancetta? Actually yes, but … If you use mildly smoked bacon, you get a very similar result. As a variant, however, heavily smoked bacon is also interesting. It is important that the bacon is let out slowly and has time to develop its aroma.
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Which noodles go well with the ragu? Spagetthi are not used in Italy because the liquid ragu does not combine well with the pasta. Tagliatelle, which is a slightly wider ribbon noodle, or penne are definitely better.
Oven-baked lasagna. The ragu is also used as a base for lasagna.
Storage: Ragu is ideal for freezing. We always make a large portion, which is then used over the coming weeks with pasta, as a lasagna or to fill a butternut squash, for example.
a lot of time
As always, the same applies here: If you have more time and patience, you will be rewarded with a better result.
Ingredients
4 people
– 300 g of lean beef
– 150 g pancetta
– 50 g carrot
– 50 g onion
– 50 g celery (perennial or tuber)
– 300 g of pureed tomatoes
– 1/2 glass of dry white wine
– 1/2 glass of milk
– some soup or stock
– 3 tbsp mild olive oil
– salt, pepper, spices
refine
To enhance individual taste components, you can:
Acid: before deglazing with the white wine, add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste and roast briefly.
Bitter: Add 1-2 bay leaves and remove at the end. Thyme adds a tart, slightly bitter freshness.
Umami: season with a teaspoon of soy sauce at the end. As a variant, you can also cook mushrooms.
You can also cook one or two cloves of garlic as a whole. This gives a fine, slightly spicy but also sweet note.
CULINAMUS
For our Culinamus Ragu we use the oval Le Creuset 35 (8.9L) with 4 times the amount. We like to season with a little thyme, bay leaf and fresh basil. We freeze in family size portions. Season after defrosting.
Preparation
(30 minutes / big quantity +30 minutes)
Grind the beef (alternatively chop it by hand), then do not put it in the refrigerator again. It is easier to cook if the ingredients are not too cold. Clean the vegetables and cut into small cubes. Cut the pancetta into small cubes. Have oil, tomatoes, white wine and soup ready.
Cooking
(2 1/2 hours)
– Slowly drain the pancetta in a casserole. When it starts to caramelize, increase the heat, add the vegetables and roast. After 5-10 minutes, the vegetables will slowly take on color and are fully heated.
– Add olive oil and minced meat and roast until the meat begins to turn brown. This can take some time as there can be a lot of fluid leaking out of the meat. You can also skim off some of the liquid and add it later with the tomatoes. It is important that the meat is browned. At the end we add a spoonful of tomato paste and roast it briefly.
– Deglaze with white wine and let the wine boil down completely.
– Add the tomatoes and the stock. Spice up. Simmer gently for 2 hours with the pot closed.
– At the end of the cooking time, balance the acidity of the tomatoes with a glass of milk. If you used spices (thyme, basil, garlic), remove them now.
et più
We find the ideal combination for ragu is freshly made tagliatelle and freshly grated Parmesan.
Red wines that are not too heavy, e.g. a young Chianti, are ideal. A Zweigelt is also very nice, or our favorite is a Haideboden from Schaller am See.
CULINAMUS!
