Authentic Bolognese Sauce (Ragu)

About this Bolognese Recipe

This traditional bolognese recipe (beef and pork ragu) is one that many Italians make and it does not involve cream or milk like many recipes out there. This bolognese recipe and my simple cheese tortellini recipe were taught to me by two Italian Sfoglinas (women who hand roll pasta) on a recent trip to Italy.

The key to this authentic bolognese sauce is lots of meat and cooking it for hours to achieve that richness that makes a bolognese so delicious.

This is not like a meat sauce that Americans think of when they think of bolognese. It is a sauce with meat however and it has a little wine and classic Italian aromatics like onion, carrots and celery and a thick tomato sauce.

The end result is pure meaty richness that you will love. I love making a double batch of this ragu and freezing some of it so I can make a classic lasagna bolognese later in the week.

Ingredients to make a traditional bolognese

• Tomato Puree.
• Carrots.
• Onion.
• Celery.
• Meat- We use ground pork and beef in this recipe along with prosciutto.
• Olive oil- Try to use extra virgin olive oil.
• Salt and pepper- This one is per the recipe and then tasting at the end to see if you want to add more. Kosher salt is preferred.
• Red wine- You can also use white wine if that is what you have.
• Fresh Pasta- Try to find tagliatelle or another wide long noodle shape.

How to make:

• Step 1: First you want to finely chop your carrots, onion and celery in the food processor. This ensures they completely cook into the sauce later.
• Step 2: While the food processor is out, you will also want to finely grind your prosciutto which will be added in later with the meat.

• Step 3: Start sautéing your aromatics for the ragu (onion, carrots and celery). When the aromatics are soft, remove it from the pan on to a plate for later.
• Step 4: Take out your ground beef and ground pork and add it to the sauté pan.

• Step 5: When you cook the meat, you are not going to cook it all the way through like you would in other meat sauces you are used to. You want the meat to render in the sauce.
• Step 6: Here is what the meat mixture should look like after cooking it. About 60-70 percent cooked.

• Step 7: Grab your tomato puree.
• Step 8: Add your tomato puree to the meat and mix well. At this stage it looks like a regular meat sauce. It will cook into a beautiful Ragu, promise!

Tips when making this bolognese sauce

• Pasta: try to use fresh pasta when you make this bolognese which is how Italians would eat this dish. Tagliatelle is also preferred (or a similar wide noodle pasta) since the sauce has something to stick to.
• Tomato puree: Italians use what is called passata for the bolognese. Passata is basically tomato puree and is easily substituted. Whole tomatoes or crushed tomatoes are too liquid to use in this recipe so make sure to use puree.
• Do not skimp on the amount of meat. The three meats used in this bolognese are important and what an authentic bolognese is all about, the meat. If you cannot find prosciutto you can use pancetta.

Pasta to serve with a traditional bolognese

A traditional bolognese (or ragu) is only served with fresh tagliatelle. That is if you live in Bologna, Italy 🙂 Italians from Bologna are very particular about this.

Many of us cannot find tagliatelle or fresh pasta so any long pasta will do.

Some of my favorites are pappardelle, spaghetti or bucatini. You can also go with a thick pasta shape like rigatoni and that tastes great too.

Faqs

You may see many recipes for authentic bolognese and they all may vary a lot but most of them do use some sort of cream or milk. Many Italians will argue that is not a traditional bolognese. This is what I learned when I visited Italy.

I make another bolognese, my pork bolognese which uses cream in it to add more richness and because I only use one meat, pork. It breaks another rule of using spaghetti and not fresh pasta.

The end result is still shear deliciousness and it is rich the way an Italian bolognese should be.

Both versions are amazing just different. I hope you give this bolognese recipe a try and see for yourself, how amazing such simple ingredients can be.

More Italian Pasta Recipes:

• Pork Ragu (Pork Bolognese)
• Pasta Genovese
• Pasta with Broccoli and Truffle Cream Sauce
• Spaghetti Aglio e Olio
• Broken Noodles with Sausage and Kale
• Pasta with Chickpeas, Spinach and Lemon
• Italian Sunday Gravy- Sicilian Style
• Ricotta Pasta
• Pasta Nerano (Pasta with Zucchini)