I need a Ragu Bolognaise sauce recipe

[PlacidCasual]

Not strictly what you're looking for but try using beef cheeks instead of mince. Fry a sofretto of carrots, celery and onions, add your cheeks beef stock and tomatos. Cook slowly and after 3 hours take out the beef cheeks and shred using forks the same way a peking duck is shredded. Mix the meat back into the sauce.
Boil your pasta until cooked, drain, return to pan and pour over your sauce, stir and cover for a few minutes off the heat, You will find the meat fibres of the shredded cheek stick to the pasta in a far more satisfying way than mince.

 

[Danthus]

I can see this being a controversial thread!

Me to, if you go to Bologna they don't use milk or garlic, you go 30 miles up the road to Modena and they do.

Some use white wine, some use red.

And in Bologna they do not serve Spaghetti with the ragu.

 

[Biz.Kid09]

In most recipes I have found it does ask for wine but unfortunately I won't be able to use any.

Should I just leave it out or put something else in instead.?

Thanks guys.

 

[Danthus]

Why can't you use wine?

 

[randomshenans]

It won't be the end of the world if you can't use wine, just use tomatoes/passata

 

[Ranger07]

My favorite Bolognese is Nigel Slater's recipe, copy paste from the BBC website-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/spaghettibolognese_89200

Ingredients
50g/1¾ oz butter
70g/2½ oz pancetta
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
2 large mushrooms, finely chopped
2 bay leaves
400g/14oz minced beef or lamb
200ml/7fl oz whole milk
220ml/7¾fl oz crushed tomatoes or passata
200ml/7fl oz red wine
200ml/7fl oz vegetable stock
pinch freshly ground nutmeg
spaghetti or tagliatelle, cooked according to packet instructions
grated parmesan cheese, to serve


Preparation method
Melt the butter in a heavy-based pan, then stir in the pancetta and let it cook for 4-5 minutes, without colouring much. Add the onion, garlic, carrot, celery, mushrooms and bay leaves, stirring well. Leave to cook for 8-10 minutes over a medium heat, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are tender.
Turn up the heat and tip in the minced beef or lamb, breaking it up well with a wooden spoon. Leave to cook without stirring for 3-4 minutes, or until the bottom is browned, then stir again and cook for a further 3-4 minutes, or until golden-brown all over and cooked through.
Pour in the milk a bit at a time, then mix in the tomatoes, red wine, vegetable stock, nutmeg and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper freshly ground black pepper. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. Partially cover the pan with a lid and leave to simmer for 1 hour 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
To serve, season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then stir in the cooked pasta and pile onto serving plates. Sprinkle over the grated parmesan and serve.

 

[pitchfork]

Not a traditional bolognese, because "spaghetti bolognese" is a simple dish thought up for tourists there's no use getting picky about traditionalism.

My no fuss italian style sauce:

You want a big pan with lots of room for evaporation, thick bottomed.

Fry off 2 large onions, some celery and carrots (fine 1/16 cm dice) in a lot of hot olive oil (this won't make it greasy by the way) until almost softened (must be slow, you don't want to sweat or colour, simply fry to soften) then add half a bulb of strong garlic pureed with seasalt and cook that off for a minute or so, DON'T BURN IT OR I WILL CUT YOU!

Next add some lean beef mince, good quality aged beef and brown about 1lb.

Once almost browned add a good tablespoon of oregano and a good tablespoon of parsley, 30 seconds in hot heat just to release some flavour into the oil.

Next a good large spoonful of quality tomato paste (double concentrate) and a finely chopped chilli.

Cook off for a minute and add a glass of wine. Reduce down to basically nothing - don't be tempted to bung anything else in until it has done or you'll get raw alcohol and no wine flavour, add a tin of good quality (cheap are bitter crap) tomatoes sieved (not blitzed! sieve to remove any seeds!) along with a little sugar, or a little white wine vinegar to taste.

Additionally add some nice gelatinous stock, or a premade jellied stock with water. If you only have cubes, omit the stock altogether as they will make it too salty.

Cook down on low heat for as long as you like, don't allow to become too dry.

Cook your dried spaghetti to al dente in highly salted boiling water, drain (not thoroughly) and toss into the pot together with a little of the cooking water to loosen, the starch in the water will help emulsify it also.

Toss together to allow the pasta to absorb flavour from the sauce and serve piping hot with salad, stale bread, olive oil and good hard salty cheese.