Nosh: Best Bolognese

Best Bolognese

There are enough bastardizations of Bolognese -- with cream and god knows what else -- out there to scare people away from what is a very simple sauce. True, this sauce requires a lot of love for its short list of ingredients. But the effort is minimal ... time, and the meat itself, do most of the work. The ground beef relinquishes its flavor to the sauce, lending it sweetness and incredible richness.

This is simply the best Bolognese sauce you will ever make. Don't be surprised if people on the street raise their noses in wonder as they pass your kitchen. The aroma in your house will be incredible, so be prepared for total greatness!

This is not only my most loved and used recipe from Marcella Hazan and her wonderful Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, it is a recipe that still amazes me with its results. It is the perfect dish for a lazy Sunday ... the smell and anticipation brings everyone together over a comfortable, warming meal. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Marcella Hazan: Bolognese Meat Sauce

"Rag�, as the Bolognese call their celebrated meat sauce, is characterised by a mellow, gentle, comfortable flavour that any cook can achieve by being careful about a few basic points:

The meat should not be from too lean a cut; the more marbled it is, the sweeter will the rag� be. The most desirable cut of beef is the neck portion of the chuck. Add salt immediately when saut�ing the meat to extract its juices for the subsequent benefit of the sauce. Cook the meat in milk before adding wine and tomatoes to protect it from the acidic bite of the latter. Do not use a demi-glace or other concentrated brown sauces that up [sic] the balance of flavours toward harshness. Use a pot that retains heat. Earthenware is preferred in Bologna and by most cooks in Emilia-Romagna, but enamelled cast-iron or a pot whose heavy bottom is composed of layers of steel alloys are perfectly satisfactory. Cook, uncovered, at the merest simmer, for a long, long time; no less that 3 hours is necessary, more is better.

RECOMMENDED PASTA: There is no more perfect union in all gastronomy than the marriage of Bolognese rag� with homemade Bolognese tagliatelle. Equally classic is lasagne with meat sauce. Rag� is delicious with tortellini, and irreproachable with such boxed, dry pasta as rigatoni, conchiglie or fusilli. Curiously, considering the popularity of the dish in Britain and the countries of the Commonwealth, meat sauce in Bologna is never served over spaghetti.

1 tbsp vegetable oil;
1 cup/240 ml whole milk;
3 tbsp butter plus 1 tbsp for tossing the pasta;
1�-1� lb/550-675g pasta;
Whole nutmeg;
1/2 cup chopped onion;
2/3 cup chopped celery;
2/3 cup chopped carrot;
3/4 lb ground beef (see note);
1 cup dry white wine;
1 1/2 cups canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, cut up, with their juice;
Salt;
Freshly ground black pepper;
Freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese for the table

Put the oil, butter and chopped onion in the pot, turn the heat to medium and saut� the onion until it becomes translucent. Add the chopped celery and carrot. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring the vegetables to coat them well.

Add the ground beef, a large pinch of salt and a few grindings of pepper. Crumble the beef with a fork, stir well and cook until it has lost its raw, red colour.

Add the milk and let it simmer gently, stirring frequently, until it has bubbled away completely. Add a tiny grating - about 1/8 teaspoon - of nutmeg and stir.

Add the wine, let it simmer until it has evaporated, then add the tomatoes and stir thoroughly to coat all the ingredients well. When the tomatoes begin to bubble, turn the heat down so that the sauce cooks at the laziest of simmers, with just an intermittent bubble breaking through to the surface. Cook, uncovered, for 3 hours or more, stirring from time to time. While the sauce is cooking, you are likely to find that it begins to dry out and the fat separates from the meat. To keep it from sticking, continue the cooking, adding 125ml/4floz water whenever necessary. At the end, however, no water at all must be left and the fat must separate from the sauce. Taste and correct for salt.

Toss with cooked, drained pasta and serve with freshly grated Parmesan on the side.

AHEAD OF TIME NOTE: If you cannot watch the sauce for a 3-4 hour stretch, you can turn off the heat whenever you need to leave, and resume cooking later on, as long as you complete the sauce within the same day. Once done, you can refrigerate the sauce in a tightly sealed container for 3 days, or you can freeze it. Before tossing with pasta, reheat it, letting it simmer for 15 minutes and stirring it once or twice.