Ragū Bolognese

Ingredients:

6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

100 g (3.5 oz/7 tablespoons) unsalted butter

130-150 grams (5 oz/1 medium) yellow onion, finely minced

100 grams (3.5 oz/2 small) carrots, peeled and very finely minced

85 grams (3 oz/2 small stalks) celery, very finely minced

300 grams (11 oz) pancetta (cured pork belly), minced in a food processor or by hand

700 grams (25 oz) ground beef (see note)

freshly ground nutmeg, to taste (optional)

400 ml (1 3/4 cups) red wine, such as a Sangiovese di Romagna, or other dry red wine

600 grams (21 oz) Italian peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand

200 ml (generous 3/4 cup) Italian meat broth, beef broth, or water, plus more if needed

2 tablespoons tomato paste

salt, to taste

freshly ground black pepper, as needed

50 ml (1/4 cup) milk, plus 2-3 tablespoons more if needed

Instructions:

Set a large Dutch oven or terracotta pot (set over a diffuser) over low heat. Add the extra virgin olive oil and butter. Once the butter has melted, add the onion with a pinch of salt. Cook it slowly, stirring frequently. Not only are you looking for it to soften and become translucent, you want to gently cook it until its liquid is released and evaporates. By the time it’s ready for the next ingredient it will be sizzling gently in only the fat and will smell sweet. The sharp flavor of raw onion should be gone. This should take about 7-9 minutes.

Next, add the celery, also with a pinch of salt. Cook this for 2-3 minutes then add the carrot with another pinch of salt. Cook, stirring often for 2-3 minutes.

Add the pancetta, stirring to break it up. Raise the heat to medium-low to help cook the pancetta and render its fat. Cook the soffritto and pancetta together until they are completely tender, stirring often. Make sure that they don’t burn or brown. This should take 10-15 minutes. Before moving on to the next step, make sure that all of the vegetables are sizzling gently in the fat and that all of the liquid that they released has been reduced. One way to tell is that the liquid in the pot will be cloudy while there is still water and clearer when it is just fat.

Now it’s time for the ground beef. Move all of the pancetta and vegetables to the outer edges of your pot, leaving the center free for the meat. Raise the heat to medium-high and add a third of the meat with a generous pinch of salt. Stir constantly to break up the meat completely and to stop it from releasing a pool of its liquid in the pot. Once it’s almost completely changed color, push the meat to the sides with the other mixture and add another third of the beef with another generous pinch of salt. Proceed in the same manner and add the rest of the meat, with salt and let it all change color. Mix the meat and vegetables together making sure that the heat is not too high. At this point you want to do the same as before, ensure that all of the water released from the meat is gone completely. It will be sizzling only in the fat in the pan. The whole process will take approximately 10 minutes.

If using, add a generous grating of freshly grated nutmeg. It adds a nice warmth. You can adjust the quantity later on if you desire.

Add half of the wine, slowly pouring it around the sides of the pot. Stir gently and let it come to a simmer. After a few minutes, add the other half in the same manner. Stir and simmer until it evaporates. The aroma will go from smelling sharp to sweet. This should take about 20-25 minutes. Stir occasionally and adjust the heat as necessary to make sure that nothing sticks or burns.

Next, add the hand-crushed tomatoes with a generous pinch of salt. Bring to a simmer, lower the heat to low, cover with a lid and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Meanwhile, heat the broth or water and dissolve the 2 tablespoons of tomato paste. Set aside. Once the 30 minutes has passed, add the hot broth and tomato paste mixture. Bring to a simmer, set the heat to low, cover, very slightly ajar and simmer, stirring occasionally for at least 3 hours, or more if needed. You want a pretty dense meat sauce that will have a brown color with a hint of red. If you plan on serving the ragù only on tagliatelle, it can be a slightly looser sauce. For lasagna, it needs to be denser. You can cook it even longer adding extra broth or hot water as necessary if you want to develop more flavor.

Once you achieve the consistency you want, add the milk slowly around the sides of the pan. Simmer for 10-15 minutes to meld the flavors. At this point, you can add 1-2 tablespoons more milk to balance things out if needed. I usually do. Taste for seasoning and add salt and freshly cracked black pepper as needed. Turn off the heat and serve as desired.

Notes:

If you want to add a hint of ground pork to the recipe, use 600 grams (21 oz) of beef and 100 grams (3.5) of pork.