One of the most famous Italian dishes all over the world is Bolognese ragu sauce. Since I am proudly Italian, I can tell you all about the real recipe for Bolognese sauce: beware of imitations because most of the recipes you can find on the net are not authentic. Don’t be scared because, even if this sauce has an ancient story and tradition, it isn’t that tough to prepare. As soon as you get used to it, it takes about 20 minutes of preparation and 210 minutes of cooking. If you are on a diet it may not be the ideal meal, in fact, it contains 532 calories per serving. Consider, however, that if it’s true that this is a food that doesn’t help you keep fit, it will certainly keep your mood at the top.
The origin and ingredients of the authentic recipe for Bolognese sauce
Bolognese ragù sauce is one of the most characteristic seasonings of good Italian cuisine, the one that has consecrated Italy as the country of good cuisine. After consulting the oldest cooking manuals, i.e. those that grandmothers have handed down for generations, I’ll tell you how to prepare the wonderful seasoning typical of lasagna.
You must know that the authentic recipe for Bolognese sauce was filed on 17 October 1982 at the Bologna Chamber of Commerce. Here are the ingredients and doses for 4 people:
- coarse ground beef 17,6 oz,
- ground pork (very fatty) 8,8 oz,
- tomato sauce 8,8 oz,
- celery 1,7 oz,
- golden onions 1,7 oz,
- carrots 1,7 oz,
- white wine 8,8 oz,
- extra virgin olive oil 1 tbsp,
- water 0,7 gal,
- whole milk 1,4 oz,
- salt,
- black pepper.
How to prepare a perfect Bolognese sauce
To prepare the Bolognese sauce, start by finely chopping the celery, the peeled carrot, and the peeled onion. You’ll have to obtain about 1,7 oz for each ingredient.
Then pour the oil into a saucepan and add the chopped ingredients, letting go for about ten minutes over low heat while stirring occasionally. After that, the sauté must be wilted and the bottom of the pan must be dry. Add the coarsely ground beef and the ground pork. Even these both have to brown slowly for about ten minutes, stirring occasionally. Initially, all the juices will come out but once dried you can blend with the white wine. As soon as the alcohol has evaporated and the bottom has returned dry, add the tomato puree. Then pour only 0,2 gal of water, add a pinch of salt, mix, and cook over medium-low heat for an hour. After the first hour, you can add 0,2 gal more of water, mix and cook for another hour. At the end of the second hour of cooking, pour the rest of the water and continue to cook on a low flame for another hour. In this way, the ragu will cook for at least 3 hours. At the end of cooking the result will be very dry, season with salt and pepper, turn off the heat and add the milk. One last mix and here is the Bolognese sauce ready for use!
Advice about the meat and tow to best preserve the sauce
You can prepare the recipe for Bolognese sauce in advance and heat it when needed. You can keep it in a glass container, well covered with cling film, for a maximum of 2-3 days. If you prefer, you can also freeze the meat sauce.
The traditions related to the Bolognese sauce recipe are really many! Let’s start with the meat. Pork must be very fatty, therefore in jargon, it’s called pancetta and it isn’t the classic cooking bacon. The beef must instead be coarse-grained, as to give a rustic texture to the sauce.
The amount of sauce doesn’t have to be large, despite what is commonly believed. The tagliatelle pasta will, therefore, be seasoned with a restricted sauce unlike the lasagna which instead needs a softer sauce.
The milk serves to make the ragù more full-bodied and creamy, but in ancient times a generous spoonful of lard was used which can still be used to reinforce slightly fatty pork.
Listen to my podcast about this recipe:
Candy Valentino
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