Well, ragù alla bolognese is generally one of those. Everyone has a different way of making it. But there are some basic rules to follow, the main one being that it must be cooked for at least 5 hours!
That's right, this is not going to be something you just decide to have for dinner. And you know what? The anticipation makes it even more worth the wait.
Outside of Italy, Bolognese can be spooned over spaghetti (Spag-bo anyone? tragic butchering of the language - and apparently the dish as well) or layered with Bechamel and pasta to make Lasagne alla Bolognese (from the Bologna region). The current recipe is considered best served over fresh tagliatelle.
The two main ingredients are meat and tomato, and then everything else can vary; and since there is no authoritative recipe for Ragù alla Bolognese, it's up to you to explore the possibilities!
An Italian friend of mine gave me this recipe, and I am publishing it here with his consent.
Ragù alla Bolognese
Ingredients
1 large onion
500g minced meat (beef, veal, pork, or a mix of these)
1 can whole tomatoes
300 g carrots (approximately 5)
salt, pepper
red wine (optional)
celery (optional)
bay leaf (optional)
olive oil
Preparation
cut the onion and carrots in a small dice. heat the olive oil until just below smoking point. on high heat, add onion and cook 5 minutes, until translucent. Add carrots. After about 5 minutes, add the minced meat. Break into small pieces and let brown, about 10 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes, and twice the volume of the can in water (fill the can twice with water). Stir together, and lower the heat to a low setting. Let simmer, stirring every once in a while. After a minimum of 4 hours, but can take up to 6, the water should have mostly evaporated, leaving you with a more consistent sauce.
* the bay leaf should be added before the onions
* in case you choose to add celery, dice and add at the same time as the carrots.
* the wine should be added at the same time as the tomatoes
Serve over fresh tagliatelle or reserve for Lasagne alla Bolognese
As my friend rightly said, there are many ways of cooking ragù alla bolognese. It is always like this with recipes that are done regularly. La bolognese, as we call it in Italy, is one of those basic recipes that are also used as a part of other more complex ones (lasagne, parmigiana, musaka,…) and as such should, or rather, must be cooked in different ways even if by the same person. This is to adapt it to the other ingredients it is going to be combined with, but not only. My mother’s bolognese is very different from my father’s. While she let’s the water evaporate until it becomes quite dry, my father would put more oil, keep more moisture and put spices like clove or a gram of curry. This made my childhood’s pasta con bolognese a pleasure that varied according to who was cooking it.
ReplyDeleteI must say, my tastes evolved to be closer to my father’s ones, thus influencing my ‘normal’ way of cooking the famous sauce. However, I feel it is still important not to always stick to the same exact way of cooking it. As already said, it is one of the often-repeated basic recipes of Italian cuisine and must therefore take different shapes according to the different tastes, different cravings or even according to what is in the fridge (I have known people to add mushrooms, with very good results).
The recipe my friend wrote above is already slightly different from the one I gave her yesterday night on the back of a beermat (I grate my carrots and I very strongly advice against the celery because of the bitterness it gives). This is because it matches her ways better. And this is how it should be with bolognese.
An Italian friend
Thank you D. :) I did not put celery in mine, but I did put some wine. It took forever to cook, but it tastes delicious!
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