The Official Bolognese Sauce Recipe: Ragù alla bolognese in Italian
This recipe was deposited in the Bologna Chamber of Commerce, October 17, 1982, as the Official Bolognese Ragu Recipe (The Bolognese Chapter of the Accademia Italiana della Cucina announced this recipe is the official one on that date.)
Course
Main
Cuisine
Italian
Prep Time20minutes
Cook Time2hours30minutes
Total Time2hours50minutes
AuthorValerie Lugonja via Bologna Chamber of Commerce, Italy
Ingredients
300gfreshly ground beef(neck, shoulder or diaphram are most flavourful cuts)
150gramspork belly, ground or minced finely (often locals substitute this with ground pork)
50geach of onion, celery and carrot, finely diced (Soffritto)
30gtriple concentrated tomato paste, or 5 tbsp. sauce (used more for colour than taste, Maribel adds)
100mlor ½ glass red wine(suggestions for substitutions for non drinkers? I don't know what to use)
water to cover mixture(and if I have unused broth or stock in the fridge, I add it to the water, or instead)
215mlor 1 glass whole milk(only if you use tomato sauce)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
Brown meats together in olive oil; add the vegetables and sauté a few minutes, stirring occasionally
When you hear the mixture sizzle, add the red wine over high heat, working to evaporate it quickly
When the meat is well browned, add the tomato paste or sauce and cover with water up to 1 cm above level of mixture
Simmer 2 hours
Add the milk a bit at a time during this two hour time only if you used tomato sauce; do not add any milk at all if you chose to use tomato paste
Season with salt and pepper to taste
Recipe Notes
This sauce is never served with spaghetti! It is served with tagliatelle or fettucine. Mirabel adds reconstituted dried Porcini to the sauce for depth. At home, Mirabel doubles the onion and adds extra tomato sauce for consistency. This day, we used no Porcini and she didn’t use the milk as she used tomato paste. The Bolognese tradition prescribes very long cooking of the sauce (at least 4 to 5 hours) but that is because the meat came from working animals and the muscle fiber required long hours to tenderize it. Today’s farm raised meats do not require such a lengthy tenderizing process.