In the previous newsletter, after telling you the story of lasagna alla Bolognese, I left you with the promise to share the recipe.
A recipe that consists of three separate preparations:
Bolognese sauce
béchamel sauce
green pasta sheet
It requires planning, not to say that each step claims time to rest.
The dilemma
I copied and pasted the list of ingredients.
Then, undecided about what to do, I took time looking out the window of my studio overlooking the red rooftops of Bologna.
The doubt was about sharing a text consisting of tips, three recipes, and the method of assembling. Among the recipes, there is Bolognese sauce. I wondered if to dilute an iconic and significant recipe like that in the procedure for lasagna alla Bolognese.
At that point, I deleted the draft newsletter and started over.
I visualized the large, black pot I usually use for cooking it. I evoked its aroma, and when my mouth watered, I went out to buy the ingredients and cook it instead of starting writing.
I felt the need to cook it and fix some old notes on the history of ragù.
The taste and smell of that sauce, which we call ragù here in Bologna, are part of my life (you can find a handful of memories about it on my blog). If it wasn't the smell of stock, it was the aroma of the ragù I awakened to practically every Sunday morning of my childhood.
It is also a historical recipe registered at the Bologna Chamber of Commerce to testify to its belonging to the territory and to protect what we can call the rules of Bolognese sauce.
In this regard, there is an episode that I want to tell you that is useful for understanding how difficult it is to talk about food in Italy.
In 1982, the Accademia della Cucina Italiana deposited a recipe that disagreed with many Bolognese and even some delegation members (lol).
The bone of contention concerns the minced meat; the text calls for only beef, according to the oldest usage. In 2023, a new intervention fixes things since everyone in Bologna, home and restaurant cooks alike, uses a mince of mixed meat: beef and pork (loin, not sausage as in the Modena ragù).
What about sweet ground bacon? This should be melted in the soffritto before introducing the mince. That ingredient has been part of the recipe from the beginning.
Of course, the family variations are endless.
In gastronomy, especially in Italy, the line between dogma and family customs is as thin as a thread. However, don't be fooled. That thread is as strong as a steel cable. In the sense that each family follows its own tradition, often breaking dogma. However, some rules cannot be questioned in public. This is well known by those who risk media lynching by publishing a video recipe that calls for pancetta instead of guanciale in carbonara. Similarly, there is no garlic and spices in Bolognese ragù.
For me, the issue is simple.
At home, do it your way. If you change the recipe, call it Bolognese sauce my way.
A recipe is never just a recipe. It is part of a more considerable cultural heritage to be protected on par with archaeological sites since both tell a story.
The history of ragù
Ragoût originates in France, but it is in Italy that it becomes a condiment for pasta. Write the Italian word ragù with the final accented u.
The ancestor of modern ragù, is a medieval French preparation that involves stewing meat, vegetables, or even fish in a broth over low heat.
Originally, ragoût is a stew in which the meat is cut into chunks, not minced.The recipe from France spreads to Italy during the Renaissance period as a main course or gravy accompanying other dishes.
In Italy, the transformation of ragù from stew to condiment takes place slowly.
Francesco Leonardi, one of the most famous Italian chefs of the 18th century, works for a long time as personal chef to Catherine II of Russia, is the first cook who permanently introduces tomatoes into the kitchen by using them to season pasta. An essential step for passata to meet ragù.
That said, it is clear that the ragù used to season savory pies, timballi, and lasagna was in bianco (white) until almost the mid-nineteenth century (and beyond).
The first Italian ragù with tomato sauce is that Neapolitan.
The Bolognese sauce has yet to have a defined identity in the first part of the 19th century. Its history is better delineated in the mid-19th century. In fact, in 1891, Artusi published the recipe Maccheroni alla Bolognese (No. 87). The adjective Bolognese refers to the sauce: a ragù similar to the current one, except for the mince, which is only beef. In the recipe, tomato sauce is still not present.
Finally, at the beginning of the 20th century, Bolognese sauce meets passata, and around 1950, ground pork mixed with beef definitely becomes an ingredient of the recipe. And the Bolognese turns into the famous sauce we all know and love.
The Recipe. From tradition (and my family).
Bolognese sauce
Before starting, two tips
Like most ragù, it is best cooked the day before or early that morning and set aside to allow the flavors to gel.
We Italians are very particular about what pasta goes with what sauce.
I'm pretty sure that wrong to pair pasta and sauce is an act of heresy (I'm kidding, but beyond the joke, I know people who consider that a crime).
The success of pairing pasta e ragù depends on pairing the right pasta with the appropriate sauce; flour pasta works with all sauces. If you are thinking of fresh pasta, tagliatelle, gramigna, macaroni al torchio, garganelli, and a large sheet of green or yellow pasta are perfect. The reason for this is that the richness of the sauce requires a pasta of suitable texture to absorb it properly. Nevertheless, dried pasta, especially spaghetti, does not hold Bolognese sauce and is therefore frowned upon as an appropriate pairing. Choose a short type of pasta like penne or ziti.
How much meat sauce do you need for…
1/2 kg for a lasagna Bolognese of 7 (or even 5 layers)
about 400 g to season pasta for 4 people
1 kg to make 1) or 2) and stay with some stock in the freezer
Ingredients
80 g of onion
80 g of carrot
80 g of celery
50 g of butter, even lactose-free
20 g of olive oil
3 g of salt
150 g of sweet bacon ground separately, not to be combined with ground beef and pork loin
300 g of slightly coarsely ground beef or muscle, shoulder, underbelly, belly, or brisket
200 g of pork loin, ask the butcher to grind pork and beef meat together
100 g of red wine
300 g of tomato passata
200 g of whole milk, even lactose-free
300 ml of broth, meat, or vegetable to use if needed
Instructions
Begin preparing the ragù from the soul, that is, the soffritto.
Keeping them separate, finely chop the onion, carrot, and celery.Place a large pot on a small stove and melt butter in olive oil on medium-low flame. Gently sauté the onion for two minutes before adding the carrot, stir, and, after one minute, the celery too.
Combine the salt while stirring. It will help the vegetables pull out their water without burning.
After 3 minutes, or when the soffritto is slightly translucent, add the sweet ground bacon, stir, and cook for a few minutes.
Add the ground meat, crumble it with a fork, and stir. When you hear the meat to sizzle, add the wine and let it evaporate. While it evaporates, pour a glass. Is it a good wine? I hope so because you just used it in your meat sauce.
Add tomato sauce and cook for one hour, leaving the pot uncovered and over low heat on a small stove. The Bolognese sauce should not boil; it cooks slowly, humming a song under your breath.
After an hour, you are almost halfway through cooking, considering that the first half hour has passed between preparing the soffritto and inserting the other ingredients. It is time to add the milk to the meat sauce. Stir and cook for another hour. But doesn't the meat sauce cook 4 hours? Once, it was necessary to cook the sauce for many hours since the meat was tough. Today, it has more water, and you can reduce the cooking time. I cook the sauce for about 2.30 to 3 hours.
Turn it off and let it cool out; let it stand at least overnight (when cooled, place the pot in the fridge).
The next day, taste and, if necessary, adjust the salt.
Food tips
While cooking, add broth if necessary. I know it put you on the edge of your seat. I'll try to translate: if you encounter resistance while stirring or look at it and see that it is dry, add broth. Don't worry if you add too much liquid. In that case, cook until the final consistency is thick but fluid.
Prepare the Bolognese sauce the day before and let it rest for at least one night.
It will be kept in the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Or make portions and freeze.
Next week, after the ragù, I'll share the recipe for lasagna Bolognese; that's a promise!
Buona cucina, Monica
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