Tagliatelle with Bolognese Ragu
Posted: 08 March '10 by Niall
Tagliatelle with Bolognese Ragu
Last weekend I thought I’d make one of my favourite dishes, Bolognese Ragu.. A really simple meal, but one that has a million and one different recipes for it.
This is the best recipe for Bolognese that I know of and it produces a very tasty, authentic Italian meal. You’ll be surprised by a few of the ingredients – minced pork for instance, and milk too – and by the absence of garlic. The dish is delicious though, and much more flavoursome than the basic spag bol I would make during the week.
One of the most important things to remember is that a lot of Italian dishes start with the same three ingredients: celery, onion, and carrot. I think that the carrot gives a slight sweetness to the dish but, other than this, you won’t notice any discernible flavour from the basic ingredients – they just help to make a more robust and mouth-watering sauce.
The recipe also calls for Tagliatelle rather than Spaghetti. Depending on where you are in Italy, this is either complete blasphemy or the proper way to make Bolognese. For me, I have to say that I prefer the Tagliatelle – it feels much more authentic as it lends itself to the “mix the sauce through the pasta” approach and holds more of the sauce than Spaghetti would.
Making Bolognese Ragu really is a weekend job though, as it takes over three hours to cook – but it’s worth every minute.
You can see the photos here:
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
- 400g minced beef
- 400g minced pork
- 100g pancetta, roughly chopped
- 100g onion, finely chopped
- 100g carrot, finely chopped
- 100g celery, finely chopped
- 2 tins of chopped tomatoes
- 1 glass of dry white wine
- 500ml fresh milk
- 200ml of chicken stock
- 3 bay leaves
- Pepper and salt
- 500g Tagliatelle
Method:
- Place the pancetta in a large, deep saucepan with some olive oil on a low heat until the fat has melted and the pancetta has a nice golden colour.
- Add the onion, stirring until the onion is translucent.
- Add the carrot and celery and the bay leaves and keep cooking until the vegetables start to soften and get some colour.
- Place the minced meat in a bowl and add some seasoning. Mix the meat together with your hands.
- Increase the heat to just above medium and add the minced meat. Keep cooking and stirring the mixture until the meat has browned.
- Pour in the white wine and stir through the mixture, cooking the ingredients until the wine has evaporated.
- Reduce the heat and add the chopped tomatoes, mixing them through the meat.
- Leave the mixture on the heat for at least 2 hours. Check your sauce regularly during this time – if the tomatoes reduce too much just add some beef stock. By the end of the two hours you should have an intense, thick tomato sauce.
- Now, add the milk and some chicken stock, stirring them through your sauce. Leave this mixture over a low heat for another hour.
- Remove the sauce from the heat, season to taste, and leave to rest.
- In a separate saucepan, add some water and a good pinch of salt and bring to the boil.
- Add your tagliatelle and cook until the pasta has softened.
- Drain your pasta and add several spoonfuls of your Bolognese Ragu, mixing the sauce through the pasta.
- Serve with some grated parmesan.
Enjoy!
Tags: beef, italian food, pasta, pork, recipe
Categories: Recipes
