Tagliatelle al ragù alla bolognese

meat Italian · regular · 200 min, including 55 hands-on

Bologna's Sunday ragù: a gently softened soffritto, browned minced beef and veal, then a two-hour simmer with tomato purée, white wine, tomatoes and stock, until the sauce is deep brown-red and thick enough to coat egg tagliatelle.

Ingredients for two

Method

1. Very finely chop the onion and cut the carrot and celery into 3 mm dice. Alternatively, pulse all three in a food processor, keeping them in small pieces rather than a purée. If using smoked goose breast, cut into 5 mm dice. Put half the tin of peeled tomatoes in a bowl with their juice and crush by hand. Leave the meat in the fridge until step 3.
2. Heat the olive oil over a medium-low heat in a heavy-based, 26–28 cm casserole or sauté pan. If using smoked goose breast, cook it first in the oil over a low heat for 3 minutes until its fat turns translucent. Add the soffritto of onion, carrot and celery and cook over a medium-low heat for 10–12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until translucent, tender and barely golden, without browning. This is the ragù's sweet foundation, so give it the full time.
3. Increase the heat to medium-high, add the beef and veal and break up every lump with a wooden spoon. First let the meat's water evaporate for 5–7 minutes, until it stops boiling and starts sizzling. Then brown for 8–10 minutes, stirring just enough to prevent sticking. If the soffritto starts browning at the edges, lower the heat a notch: you want browned meat juices, not scorched onion. The meat should finish browned in places, with caramelised juices on the base, rather than grey and boiled.
4. Stir the tomato purée into the meat and cook for 2 minutes, stirring, until darker and smelling of caramel. Pour in the wine, scrape up the browned juices with a spoon and reduce for 3–4 minutes until the smell of alcohol has gone.
5. Dissolve the half stock cube in 250 g hot water. Add the crushed tomatoes and their juice, 150 g of this stock, 3 g salt (1/2 tsp) and the pepper. Bring to a simmer, then reduce to the lowest heat and leave the lid ajar by a finger's width. Simmer for 2 hours, or 2 hours 30 minutes if you have time, which improves the ragù. Stir every 20 minutes, adding 50 g hot stock whenever it starts sticking. The 250 g is usually enough; in a very wide pan, top up with hot water. The finished ragù should be dense and brown-red, with little beads of fat on top and a spoon's trail that does not close immediately.
6. Fifteen minutes before serving, grate the nutmeg into the ragù, taste and add the remaining salt if needed, 1 g or a pinch. Bring 3 litres water to the boil in a large saucepan with 30 g coarse salt.
7. Add the tagliatelle nests, gently teasing them apart with a fork as they soften. Cook for 1 minute less than the packet instructions, about 4–5 minutes, until still slightly firm. Reserve a ladleful (150 g) of cooking water just before draining.
8. Drain the tagliatelle without rinsing and add to the ragù over a medium heat. Add 2–3 tbsp pasta water, more if the ragù is too thick, using the rest of the ladleful to loosen it. Toss for 1 minute with tongs, lifting the ribbons until each is coated in glossy sauce. Serve immediately on warm plates. No cheese for this meat meal: a ragù simmered for two hours needs no more.

On your plate

Cooking tips

This is a meat meal: no Parmesan at the table or cheese starter. Olive oil replaces butter, and stock replaces the milk in the original Bolognese recipe. If serving caponata as a starter, make it the day before, as it is better cold. Monday's ragù makes Wednesday's pasta: double the sauce, not the pasta. It keeps in the fridge for 3 days or the freezer for 3 months, and tastes better when gently reheated with a little water. Extra sauce also works in lasagne with a pareve soya-milk béchamel, or with rigatoni. If the butcher has no veal, use 300 g beef: ask for shoulder mince with 15% fat, not lean mince. Smoked goose breast is available from kosher butchers and delis. The ragù is also excellent without it, as in the lighter version.

Equipment : heavy-based 26–28 cm casserole or sauté pan with a lid, large 5-litre saucepan for the pasta, kitchen tongs, fine grater for the nutmeg, food processor, optional, for the soffritto

Ragù classico bolognese, the recipe registered with Bologna's Chamber of Commerce in 1982, adapted for a kosher kitchen in the Italian Jewish tradition: smoked goose replaces pancetta, olive oil replaces butter and stock replaces milk.