Ragu Bolognese – a work in progress
This is a problematic recipe. I’ve been looking for a recipe that Mary likes as well as she does the Bolognese at Siena in Providence. A little research showed a general consensus but a lot of variation. My first attempt had promise but clearly needed adjustment.
Here’s a draft recipe, with proposed adjustments:
- 1 lb lean ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1/4 lb pancetta, diced
- 1/2 large sweet onion (Spanish or Vidallia), chopped fine
- 2 large stalks celery, diced
- 1 large carrot, diced
- 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- [1/2 small can tomato paste]
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1 pint milk
- 3 bay leaves
- salt & pepper to taste
- [cream or half-and-half to taste (perhaps 1/2 cup to start …)]
Saute the pancetta for a few minutes but do not brown. Add the onions & sweat until translucent, about 10 to 15 minutes. Add the carrots, celery, and bay, and sweat for another 10 minutes.
Push the vegetables aside & gradually add the chopped meat in 6 or 8 small batches, browning each batch before adding the next. Season each batch with salt and pepper. The idea is to saute the meat without accumulating water. At the same time, you do not want to brown the vegetables. [This turns out to be hard. It might help to use a large saute pan & to push the vegetables off to the side. Do not use too high a flame. Or maybe the thing to do is remove the vegetables while browning the meat, then put them back]
Add the milk and simmer until it is mostly absorbed. Do the same with the wine. Finally add the tomatoes, reduce to a low simmer, partially cover, and cook for 2 to 3 hours. [Some recipes insist that the wine goes first, others are equally adamant that the milk goes first. All agree that the liquid should mostly evaporate] If necessary, add a little beef stock or water to keep the pot from drying out.
The above results in a tasty but almost solid sauce that is difficult to spread over pasta and lacks the creamy mouth feel I associate with Bolognese. The remedy appears to be to add some cream (or half-and-half) at the end of the cooking. Just heat through & serve over tagliatelli or other broad noodles.
The sauce is also brown rather than the pink Mary recalled. Adding a little tomato paste would remedy this.
Since you said this was a work in progress, I’m going to leave some notes from my own experience.
Borrowing the experimentation of Cook’s Illustrated, they recommend including veal in the meat mix (often purchasable as Meatloaf Mix in grocery stores). They also suggest using a sweeter white or pink wine, such as White Zinfandel. I know this might not fit with your sensibilities of not cooking with what you won’t drink. Personally, I always use more than a cup of wine also. I’ve enjoyed the results I’ve gotten.
Personally, I also usually use fennel instead of celery, but this is just a thing I like. I also dislike tomato paste. I would probably try adding some crushed tomatoes far along in the simmering process and hope that helps, but you may not care.
I also think that removing the veg while browning the meat is a good idea, but do not have the patience to do it.