Tony Zentgraf
What is Ragu alla Bolognese Sauce?
Ragu alla Bolognese is a beef and pork ground meat sauce. Traditionally ingredients include vegetables, tomatoes, wine and finished with milk and parmesan.
With this basic definition of what Ragù alla Bolognese, it is easy to see why you can find so many recipe variations on an internet search.
Which is why I added the Culinary Seasons Style to the title. The recipe takes some of the traditional definition and has some of my own twists.
Traditionally Bolognese sauce is heavy on meat and does not have an overly saucy texture. If you are looking for a saucy tomato sauce try the Homemade Marinara recipe.
Is Bolognese a Ragu?
Ragù vs Bolognese – simply put a Ragù is a broad category of meat sauces. Many recipes include a sofrito, (Fine cut Onions, Carrots and Celery) with meat. Bolognese is a specific type of ragù. The name suggests it is from Bologna, Italy or in the style of Bologna but that is a bit fuzzy in history.
Traditionally Ragù alla Bolognese recipe uses ground meats and would not include garlic or herbs. Plus, a traditional recipe would use white wine instead of red wine. Not to mention, the tomato would be minimal to the amount of milk added.
Or is it a Napoletano?
There is a different version of ragù, called Napoletano. This version includes red wine instead of white wine. These recipes would use cuts of meat such as pork ribs, beef chuck or pork shoulder. Thus omitting any ground meats.
The Napoletano would be cooked for many hours to break down the meats in the sauce. The stewed cuts of meat would be served out of the big pot onto a serving tray. Pasta would then be mixed into the remaining pasta sauce in the pot.
Although this version of Bolognese recipe checks the box of Bolognese & Napolitano sauces, the overlying definition of Ragù still applies. Since I used ground meats, a sofrito and finished with milk and parmesan I decided to stick with the Bolognese description.
Pairing Bolognese with Pasta
- Traditionally Bolognese was never served with spaghetti, this seems to be an British and American adaptation.
- Tagliatelle or Pappardelle wider noodles were used to allow the meat sauce to adhere to the pasta.
- Another adaptation you should try is Gnocchi Bolognese. The pillowy pasta/potato dumplings tossed with the bolognese sauce and topped with parmesan is amazing!
Whether using a more traditional Bolognese recipe or this one, the steps used in preparing the sauce are important to produce a rich, thick, ground meat sauce that is delicious.
No matter how it is used, as a sauce mixed with pasta, in a lasagna other type of pasta bake, or with gnocchi, I am sure you will find this a comfort food.
Enjoy!
Ragù alla Bolognese – Culinary Seasons Style (GF)
Print RecipeRecipe Multiplier
- ⅓ cup Olive Oil
- 1 ea Large Onion – ¼" diced
- 12 ea Cloves Garlic minced
- 2 ea Large Carrots – ¼" diced
- 1 ea 1 stalk Celery – ¼" diced
- 1 lb Ground Beef
- 1 lb Ground Pork
- 1 tbsp Tomato Paste
- 2 cups Red Wine
- 3 cups Chicken Broth low sodium
- 2 cans Fire Roasted Diced Tomatoes (28 oz)
- 1 tbsp Red Chili Flakes
- 2 tbsp Crushed Dry Oregano
- 2 tbsp Crushed Dry Basil
- 1 tbsp Granulated Garlic
- 1 tbsp Granulated Onion
- 2 tsp Kosher Salt
- 1 cup Half & Half
- ⅔ cup Grated Parmesan
Instructions
- Prep the Onions, Carrots, Celery, and Garlic
- In a heavy bottom pot, heat the oil over medium high heat.
- Add onions, cook until they become translucent.
- Add Garlic, saute until it becomes fragrant.
- Add Carrots and Celery, saute for 2 minutes until the celery becomes translucent.
- Remove the vegetables from the pot.
- Sear the ground beef and pork in the pot. Remove the fat from the pot.
- Return the vegetables to the pot with the meat.
- Add Tomato Paste, stir to coat the vegetables. Toast the tomato paste until it begins to change color and sticks to the bottom.
- Turn the heat to high and allow the pot to get hot. Deglaze the pot with the red wine. Scraping the bottom to remove the fond (bits in the bottom of the pot) Reduce the wine by half.
- Add chicken broth and bring to a boil.
- Add diced tomatoes. Stir to combine all ingredients.
- Add dry basil, oregano, chili flakes, granulated garlic, granulated onion and salt.
- Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer over medium low heat.
- Simmer the sauce for 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
- Cooking the sauce should break down the tomatoes.
- Once the bolognese sauce reduced down and the tomatoes are mostly broken down, add parmesan and half & half and stir to combine. Simmer for 10 minutes to allow flavors to combine. You can adjust the parmesan if you would like. I like to give it a little more, it will help thicken the sauce as well as increasing the flavor.
- Adjust the seasoning, salt, granulated onion and garlic, more oregano and basil if you would like.
Video
Notes
- If after 1 1/2 hours of cooking, the tomatoes are not breaking down use a potato masher and smash the tomatoes to help them break apart in the remaining cooking process.
- Many canned tomatoes contain sodium chloride which assists with the tomatoes to keep their shape in the can.
- You can use whole tomatoes and hand crush them instead of using diced.
- Many of the whole tomatoes in cans also contain sodium chloride but hand crushing the tomatoes helps them breakdown.
