Updated October 2024
One of my favourites. I tend to (apparently) use an authentic recipe from Bologna but don’t stick to it rigidly 🙂
INGREDIENTS that Italian chefs use see Telegraph.co.uk
- * 2 tbsp olive oil
- * 6 rashers of streaky ‘pancetta’ bacon, chopped
- 2 large onions, chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 carrots, chopped
- Stick of celery
- 1kg lean minced beef
- * 2 large glasses of red wine
- 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
- * 2 fresh or dried bay leaves salt and freshly ground black pepper
- * 800g-1kg dried tagliatelle
- freshly grated parmesan cheese, to serve
Those starred are what I change.
INGREDIENTS that I use:-
- 2 tbsp rapeseed oil – Olive Oil is OK for cooking temperature below 190 deg C.
- * 6 rashers of streaky ‘pancetta’ bacon, chopped (I often forget to get this but it does make a difference)
- 2 large onions, chopped fine. I prefer Red onion.
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 carrots, chopped small or thin slices if small and sweet.
- 2 Stick of celery or more if finely chopped, don’t forget the leaves!
- 750g lean minced beef (should get 2 meals for 2 people)
- * 2 large glasses of red wine – what a waste – just drink it! 🙂
- 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
- Dried parsley, Basil, Rosemary (to taste) Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 1 beef stock cube.
- teaspoon of horse radish.
- 400g dried tagliatelle for 4 people (I mostly use penne) (Interesting article about pasta shapes and suitable sauce)
- freshly grated parmesan cheese, to serve
METHOD – I use.
I start by making a soffritto which is basically a slow fried base for a lot of Tuscan (Italian) recipes (The French call this a Mirepoix but it isn’t exactly the same). In this case; add the oil to a frying pan along with the finely chopped celery, onion and carrot and cook on a low heat until soft, some people might find cooking to a golden colour works for them as it can create a host of different flavours. see Maillard reaction. and caramelisation.
Quite often, when I have given the soffritto a good few minutes of cooking in the oil, I add a little water and then put a lid on the pan and continue to simmer for 15 / 20 mins until everything is soft. Then I cook off the water and lightly brown the soffritto.
Note. Garlic can become bitter if you brown it, it is often better to add later.
While the soffritto is cooking, use a separate pan and start to “brown” the meat. I quite often don’t bother with browning as it can sometimes make the minced beef tough. Most often I just brown one side, leaving most of the mince “raw”.
Note. Try to use mince / ground beef with at least 20% fat. The “low fat” mince foisted upon us by the supermarkets has no taste, you NEED FAT to taste. When you have (optionally) browned the mince, you can spoon off most of the fat, if you want, and it won’t lose much of the taste.
Add the finely chopped or crushed garlic along with herbs of your choice parsley, basil, rosemary to the soffritto but try not overpower it with too much herbs, continue cooking for a few minutes to let the flavours infuse. Add the tomatoes, (sea) salt and (black) pepper.
Combine the meat & soffritto, give it a good stir. Add stock and / or beef stock cube along with the horseradish and anything else you want throw in.
Leave to simmer for at least 90 mins. I tend to simmer it for 2 – 3 hours, giving the occasional stir and a taste test. Adjust the seasoning to suit.
The PASTA bit.
Italians would apparently never think about using Spaghetti with ragu, they would use tagliatelle or penne. I recently learned that Italians cook and drain the pasta and then ADD it to the sauce and cook for few more minutes. To be honest, this makes SO MUCH difference because the pasta absorbs the flavours of the sauce. Trust me you’ll never want a pile of bland pasta with a lovely ragu at the side / on top of it again. If you’re using penne, the tubes get filled with the sauce and pasta suddenly becomes tasty!
Add the Pasta to the sauce, never add sauce to the Pasta!
Onion & Garlic Bit.
Some Italian cooks say you should never have Onion and Garlic in the same dish and this seems to be something to be aurgued about 🙂
Onion adds sweetness to meat and helps to tenderise.
Garlic adds flavour but can cause bitterness.
So Onion for meat dishes, Garlic for fish dishes. Adding both intensifies the garlic flavour.
Why not try the above recipe with Onion or garlic but not both. You should find a difference. Basically IMO, its down to personal taste but I tend to not use garlic now as I prefer the sweetness of the bolegnese.