Cooked Bolognese from scratch

[Tricky Dicky]

I always add milk during the process, and certainly cook for a long time, slowly. As for the type of pasta, I know tagliatelle is more authentic for ragu based sauces, but I use linguine - I prefer the texture

 

[Billy the Fish]

I've tried with and without wine and you get a much nicer sauce with the wine. It gives you a nice wet consistency without watering it down and losing flavour.

Also I always use pancetta rather than Bacon. Tried both and pancetta is far more subtle, the bacon overpowers the whole dish for me.

As for dried vs home made. Absolutely no shame in using dried, it's equally as good in very wet sauces like bolognase. If you're just putting a bit of pesto or oil on then homemade is nicer. It's a good quick snack actually, I can knock up a plate of spaghetti out pc eggs and flour in about 10 minutes tops.

*I say homemade because the "fresh" stuff in supermarkets is shit

 

[Brixton Seagull 2]

What I am about to share with you is the product of 9 years of work, honing the recipe gradually until it is pure perfection. When I first got wind of this method, I was very sceptical, after all I considered myself a master of spaghetti sauce. What I discovered is life-changing for the bolognese fan.
It takes 5 hours to cook, and dedication. Once tried, you will be converted.
Not for the Muzzies amongst us, as it has lots of pork. The amounts are large, as when you are spending 5 hours you want to be able to freeze loads of it.

500g beef mince
500g pork mince
200g diced pancetta
1 pint full fat milk
1/2 bottle of red wine
2 onions
8 cloves garlic
2 or 3 sticks celery
2 or 3 carrots
2 teaspoons dried mixed herbs (rosemary, oregano, basil, thyme, parsley)
4 x 400g tins of good plum tomatoes.
Good olive oil
Lots of salt and pepper (to taste)

dried chilli flakes and parmesan to serve. Best with Linguine.

Chop the veg and garlic nice and small, then fry with the pancetta gently in the olive oil until the veg is soft. Takes about 10 mins.
Add the pork and beef mince, and mash it until there are no lumps, browning the meat as you go.
Add the whole pint of milk, whack up the heat, but as soon as it looks ready to boil, turn down heat and reduce for 30 mins until most of the milk is absorbed.
Add the wine, bring to the boil, turn down heat, reduce for 30 mins.
Add the 4 tins of tomatoes, then fill the cans with water and add the water (extremely important). Unless you got a massive pan, you'll need to split the mixture into two pans. Add the herbs, bring to the boil, reduce heat to simmer, and partly cover with lids. Stir and then leave for 20 mins. Stir, then leave for 20 mins. Repeat this for about 3 hours or until the sauce is plump and glossy. Yes, plump and glossy, unlike any sauce you have experienced before.
Serve it with linguine or penne (not a fan of spaghetti). I mix the sauce with the pasta in the pan, and add a little chilli flakes and parmesan while it's heating, then put it in bowls. Bit of extra parmesan and black pepper and you're good to go.
This makes about 20 portions.
Go make it, you will thank me.

 

[BensGrandad]

My wife used to put the pasta on the plate and then the sauce on top but recently having watched the TV chefs she tried draining the pasta and then putting the sauce into it for a minute or so then just serving and I must say that it seems to taste a lot better doing it that way, well it does for me but perhaps not everyone.

 

[Lord Bracknell]

This is my kind of pasta meal ...

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Home made pasta (without a machine) and the simplest of sauces (garlic, olive oil, breadcrumbs).


Or, if you've got the time, you could hand-roll every single strand of the pasta individually ...

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[Yoda]

The best ragout/bolognese recipe I've ever seen entails poaching the meat and onions in a coiuple of pinks of milk - i kid you not - for a couple of hours, until it's all been absorbed/evaporated, before you add any tomatoes, which are then cooked for another hour at least. Really does make the meat succulent and tender.

This 100%. It's not a true Bolognese ragu unless there's milk in it, and as you say. Needs to cook for a good 90 minutes to an hour.

Although I add my tomatoes in 30 minutes before the milk.

 

[KNC]

The idea is that you take your time.

It's not there for a quick snack, it's part of the magic of (assuming one of these sorts of days comes along) taking all day to prepare your food for a feast.

And you can flavour your pasta how you see fit. I would have appalled any Italian on the planet if I'd told them that I made the pasta curry flavoured tonight.

Curry flavoured!!!!!
That is WRONG on so many levels. ;-)

I do add Worcester sauce and soy to mine, though. And chorizo.

 

[The Large One]

Curry flavoured!!!!!
That is WRONG on so many levels. ;-)

I do add Worcester sauce and soy to mine, though. And chorizo.

Spiritually and culturally it's appalling.

Tasted good though. Ideally I should have had it with some poached haddock. That would have been good.

I bet that big-tongued bastard Oliver hasn't come up with that little number.

 

[CHAPPERS]

Why aren't you people adding a pinch of allspice in your ragu?

 

[dannyboy]

might try this poaching in milk

 

[Rusthall Seagull]

Mine is better

1 large onion
pancetta cubes
3 or 4 cloves garlic
small bottle of red wine
1 tube tomato puree
400g chopped tomato
dried italian herb seasoning
pinch cinnamom
couple pinches nutmeg
3 bay leaves
garlic salt & black pepper

pretty much in that order, none of that carrot and celery shite

has to have sweet carrot....