Ragù Bolognese is not difficult to make, but it requires time, lots of time, but luckily it's mostly passive. Just ask any nonna (grandmother) in the region of Emilia-Romagna and they will let you know in no uncertain terms that a good Bolognese should simmer for a minimum of 5-6 hours.
I roughly follow Macella Hazan's recipe. If you haven't read this cookbook, I highly recomend it. There are a few cookbooks that were instrumental in the way I cook today; this is one.
The order in which you add the ingredients is vital.
Gently cook finely chopped onions and garlic taking care not to let them brown. Salting helps release the juices and prevent browning. Once wilted add the finely chopped carrots and celery. You want the vegetables finely chopped so they disappear into the sauce. I use about a 1 onion, few cloves of garlic, and about 4-5 carrots and celery sticks to my large batch recipe with 4 pounds of meat.
Next comes the meat. Use freshly ground, if possible, so the meat is fluffy. This will make your job easier as the final product should be grainy as opposed to chunky. Add more salt and don't allow the meat to brown.
I like to use a combination of beef and usually veal, but none was available so I substituted pork. This is 3+ pounds of beef and 1 of pork. Alternatively, I made another batch with turkey for my friends who don't eat red meat.
Next comes an abundant quantity of milk and generous amount of freshly grated nutmeg. 1 quart of milk and almost one whole nutmeg went into my batch.
Once the milk has been absorbed, add a glass of white wine and canned tomatoes, either whole ones blended in the food processor or passata (strained tomatoes). I used one can for mine. Tomatoes play background in this dish, not the star. Bolognese should be more tan in color rather than red.
In the variation with turkey I gave it a squeeze of anchovy paste and peperoncino to boost the flavor to the turkey.
Let it simmer stirring occasionally and breaking up any larger chunks of meat for the next 6 hours. If it starts to dry out, add water. adjust seasoning if necessary.
Cook smarter, not harder hack:
Most recipes call for skimming off the fat that collects on the top, but I don't bother with that because Bolognese is even better the next day and the cold fat can easily be lifted off. Don't get too carried away though, because fat adds flavor!
The perfect match for this ragù is fresh tagliatelle, but I keep this dried egg pasta from Trader Joe's on hand when I'm lazy or I don't have time to buy or make the pasta from scratch.
Eccolo! The ragù is ready. Just a grating of Parmigiano-Reggiano and it's ready to go to the table.
Buon appetito!
Love a good ragu and love Marcella Hazan’s cookbook!