A Bolognese Sauce to Appease the Grandmother Within

Bolognese Sauce Recipe

I come from stirring stock. That is to say, my people are stirrers. It’s how my grandmother, avó Costa, cooked. She stood facing the stove for hours in her pink housecoat and pink slippers, her tiny pink hand planted on her hip, singing in her thin, reedy voice. She stirred all kind of Portuguese comestibles: spicy stuffing with chunks of homemade chouriço sausage; her famous pink (of course) chicken, rice, and potato soup; and vats and vats of kale soup.When she grew too old to stir her soups and stews for long, I’d do it for her. By then age had stolen a few inches from her, but she still managed to peer over the tops of the pots and instruct, “Mais devagar, queirdo, mais devagar.” Slower, sweetheart, slower.

I think it’s genetic. When the temperature nosedives, all I want to do is hover over a simmering pot and stir. And what I’ve been craving lately is a long-simmered, deeply flavored Bolognese sauce recipe. The kind that takes no prisoners. The kind that makes your guests plead for the secret. (Are you reading this, Kate Jackson?) The kind that leaves you on the couch unable to move because you didn’t have enough sense to stop after your second helping of seconds.I’m certain if vovó had discovered ragù Bolognese in her lifetime, she would’ve petitioned the Pope to make us Italian. It’s her kind of dish.So my hunt was on for a Portuguese-grandmother-approved Bolognese sauce–rich, meaty, slow-cooked, constantly stirred–to quench that nagging craving. This narrowed the field exponentially. Anything from a 30-minute-meal proselytizer was clearly out of contention, as were recipes from ADD TV chefs and hosts. I found–and promptly rejected–a recipe in Cook’s Illustrated that got the job done in a two hours. (Two hours? I can’t find my way out of our pantry in two hours.) Then, while sitting in front of my cookbook collection, I was reminded of another short, sturdy woman who also comes from stirring stock: L’Imperatrice–The Empress–Marcella Hazan.

I immediately downloaded The Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking. (Why I didn’t already have a copy is a question for another day.) Flipping through the book revealed a woman who spoke her mind, knew right from wrong, and, if you disagreed with what she had to say, well, that was your problem. (Not unlike Momma Leite, if you ask me.) I knew The Empress wouldn’t let me down. And she didn’t. Her Bolognese sauce clocks in at a whopping six hours. That’s longer than some relationship I’ve seen.

As I leaned against the stove with my iPad in its kitchen condom, a gorgeous sauce burbling down to sweet goodness in the pot, I was connecting to my past–to my stirrers. And to a craving even deeper, to be with my avó just one more time.

Pot of Bolognese Sauce

RAGÙ BOLOGNESE

Marcella, in her inimitable fashion, offers the home cook plenty of suggestions to create an authentic Bolognese sauce recipe, the kind my grandmother would approve of. First, the more marbled the meat, the sweeter the ragù. The most desirable cut of beef is the neck portion of the chuck. You may have to call up and order it from your butcher. It’s also important to salt the meat as soon as it hits the pan; it extracts the juices and flavors the sauce. Last, use a heavy pot that retains heat. (I use my Le Creuset 5-quart Dutch oven.) Avoid a cast-iron pot, as the acid can interact with the metal and turn the sauce an unpleasant blech color.–David Leite

LC Time is Not of the Essence Note

Rush this recipe, and you’ll miss its most important ingredient. Time. Time to ponder. Time to make lists. Time to sing the entire soundtrack of “Evita.”

Bolognese Sauce Recipe

  • Quick Glance
  • 20 M
  • 6 H
  • Makes 4 cups

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 1 1/3 cups chopped celery
  • 1 1/3 cups chopped carrot
  • 1/2 pound ground beef chuck
  • 1/2 pound ground pork
  • 1/2 pound ground veal
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg, or ground if your’re bereft of fresh
  • 2 cups dry white wine
  • 3 cups reduced homemade tomato purée or canned imported Italian San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand, with their juice
  • As much spaghetti as you wish, cooked and drained
  • Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, at the table

Directions

  • 1. Heat the oil and 6 tablespoons of the butter in a heavy 5-quart over medium heat until the butter melts and stops foaming. Drop in the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until it has become translucent, about 5 minutes.
  • 2. Dump in the celery and carrot and cook for 2 minutes, stirring the vegetables to coat them well with the fat.
  • 3. Add the ground meats, a very healthy pinch of salt, and a goodly amount of pepper. Crumble the meat with a wooden spoon, and stir well the meats have lost their raw, red color.
  • 4. Turn the heat to low. Pour in the milk and simmer gently, stirring frequently, until it has burbled away completely, about 1 hour. Stir in the nutmeg.
  • 5. Pour in the wine and let it simmer, stirring frequently, until it has evaporated, about 1 1/4 hours.
  • 6. Add the tomato purée or crushed tomatoes and stir thoroughly to coat everything well. When the tomato puree begins to bubble, turn down the heat so that the sauce cooks at the laziest of simmers, with just an intermittent bubble breaking through the surface.
  • 7. Cook, uncovered, for 3 hours or more, stirring from time to time. While the sauce is burbling away, there’s a chance that it’ll stat drying out somewhat, and the fat will separate from the meat.To keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pot and scorching, add 1/2 cup water as necessary. But it’s crucial that by the time the sauce has finished simmering, the water should be completely evaporated, and the fat should separate from the sauce. Take a spoonful–or two. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  • 8. Add remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to the hot pasta and toss with the sauce. Serve with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano on the side.
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Comments
Comments
  1. Mrs E says:

    The Ragu Bolgonese recipe is everything I was hoping for. My buthcher shop did not have veal so I substituted 1/2 lb of ground chuck for veal. I made this recipe today. I started this afternoon and finished this evening. I was so skeptical about putting in the milk before the wine, but everything happened according to the recipe…and the flavor? Rich depth, just like a restaurant version I have been trying to duplicate for years, but even better. Thanks for sharing the recipe, this one is a keeper. The surprising part was no garlic, and I did not even miss it in the final flavor, as it reads authentic Italian all the way.

    • Renee Schettler Rossi says:

      Mrs. E, that is wonderful beyond words. Many thanks for taking the time to comment so effusively! Wishing you many, many more evenings spent at the table with family and friends and this keeper of a recipe.

    • Marcella Hazan says:

      You have helped me forget all the media examples of ragù that have bobbed to the surface. I am pleased as well to read that Mrs. E prefers the homemade to the restaurant version. If there is a single recipe that points to the origin of good Italian cooking–the home–it is this one. Where I come from, Emilia-Romagna, a restaurant’s ragù is commendable only to the degree that it approaches what la mamma or la nonna makes in her kitchen. Thank you for this, David. You have made me happy.

      • David Leite says:

        And Momma H., you have honored and graced us with your presence. Thank you for dropping by, and I’m sure Mrs.–and all our readers–will be utterly delighted you responded!

  2. Mrs E says:

    After several failed attempts over the years at making a good bolgonese sauce, I want to express to Marcella Hazan what a boost of confidence and sense of accomplishment her recipe has given me. I would love to start cooking more of her authentic Italian recipes recipes. Now, I can not stop thinking about purchasing her book and trying to make my own fresh pasta for the first time. Marcella has truly inspired me. Her passion for cooking and sharing these authentic recipes has definitely rubbed off on me. Thank you, Marcella, for sharing your knowledge, secrets, and love of cooking, and David thank you for posting this recipe on your blog!.

  3. Irene Seales says:

    Thanks for the great ragu inspiration. Only modifications I made were to omit the veal (using a 50/50 mix of lean beef and pork ground to order) and add a bit of julienned carrot to the pasta water a minute or two before draining. Love the long cooking and warm oven in a January kitchen.

    Bolognese Sauce Recipe

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