Ragù Alla Bolognese

This is my absolute favorite bolognese recipe. It comes from one of my sister’s culinary school cookbooks called “Culinaria Italy”. The recipe is from Bologna in Northern Italy not to far from where my Great Grandmother (Nona) was from. The original recipe calls for pork belly, but I subbed pancetta, that’s the only thing I changed other than adding a measurement to the wine and oregano. It will warm your home, and the only involved part is making sure your onion, carrot, celery and pancetta are very finely chopped. It can be meditative if you let it! Enjoy.

Recipe Resource: Culinaria Italy

Adapted by Tierney Larson

Ingredients:

1 yellow onion, minced

1 carrot, peeled and minced

1 stick of celery, trimmed and minced

4 oz/100g of pancetta cubed, and then minced (I use a sharp kitchen scissor if my knife isn’t easily slicing through)

1/2lb/200g ground beef

3 tbl olive oil

1/2 cup of white wine (I use sauvignon blanc, use a dry wine you like to drink)

1 cup/200g crushed canned tomatoes, or tomato puree

2 tbl tomato paste

1 tsp dried oregano

kosher salt and pepper

1 cup of beef stock (use as needed, depending on how long you simmer the sauce)

Ok so..

Heat a medium sized heavy bottomed pot over medium heat. When hot, add the olive oil. When the olive oil is hot, add the onion, carrot, celery, pancetta and beef along with a pinch of salt. Stir and adjust heat if necessary, to gently cook everything. You’re looking for the beef to be cooked through, and the carrot and onion to be soft, it will take about 7-8 minutes. Carefully drain off the fat that rendered from the beef and pancetta. Then add the wine and give it a stir. Let simmer for a minute and then add the tomatoes or tomato puree, the tomato paste, oregano, a pinch of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Add a splash of the beef stock and bring to a simmer. Then lower the heat to the lowest possible setting and let slowly simmer for a minimum of 1 hour. If the sauce is looking dry, add more stock as it cooks, but mine didn’t need anymore after 1 hour. Serve over pasta, it’s soooooooo gooooood.