DiningBuzz! - A Simple Ragu (Spaghetti Sauce).

There are so many versions of this, and everyone will have completely different ideas as to the ingredients and method. So here's mine, how do you do yours?

A FLAVOURFUL BOLOGNESE

Roughly chop an onion, a couple of carrots, a couple of sticks of celery and 2-3 cloves of garlic.

Put the lot in a food processor and blitz to a pulp.

Scrape the resulting mixture in to pan that is on a medium-low heat and to which a couple of tablespoons of olive oil has been added.

Sweat gently until the vegetables have softened but not coloured.

Now add your minced meat (beef, pork & beef, or pork, beef and veal), turn the heat up and break up with a wooden spoon until the mince is uniform and there is no redness left.

Add about 200ml of whole milk and increase the heat. Let it bubble until the milk has almost disappeared. The milk is to protect and tenderise the meat.

Now add a good splash of red or dry white wine and let it bubble away til almost gone, same as the milk. You can omit this stage if you don't drink or religious reasons.

Now add a couple of tins of good tomatoes, freshly ground black pepper, a bay leaf, a squirt of tomato puree, a teaspoon of sugar (this balances the acidity of the tomatoes), a pinch of oregano and a small pinch of salt (we will season properly later).

Bring up to a simmer then turn down to the lowest possible heat. The longer you can cook this the more flavour you are going to get, 3 hours is good, 5 is better. If at any time the ragu looks a bit dry then add a little chicken stock, or water.

Season to taste now. The reason I season at the end is because of the long cooking time. If you add your salt at the beginning it may well concentrate during the process and leave the dish too salty, and ruined.

Tear up some fresh basil leaves and stir through.

I just toss it with some tagliatelle and have some freshly grated parmesan to pass at the table.

I know 3-5 hours seems like a long time but once it is cooking you don't really have to do anything other than a stir every now and again, and maybe a splash of water or stock. You will however, be rewarded with a real depth of flavour that can't be got from any jar.

No one lese is playing - so I will!:)

I do like your recipe - but only have the following preferences.

1. I like the sofrito to be large pieces rather than moulared.

2. I like to add chopped up smoked streaky bacon fried down to crispy pieces. I prefer this to pancetta and think the crispy saltiness adds flavour and texture.

3. I'm afraid I'm a heathen and love lot's of thickly sliced mushrooms as well!

4. I like to fry and brown the mince beef seperately from the sofrito mix. I like the mince meat texture to be seperate grains and like to remove the meat fat and scum from the meat mix and add the streaky bacon with fat for the flavour and add extra olive oil. I then put them all together before letting it do the long slow cook. I have a lovely cuisinart slightly programmable slow cooker which is ideal for my ragu.

5. This is one of those things that I batch cook because it freezes well and stores in those chinese take-away plastic containers.

6. This also benefits from window-sill basil plant which should be torn and added with the parmesan on serving.

7. It has to be fettucine.:D

I know what you mean about texture, however, I like a fairly smooth mix, so much so that about half way through I take a potato masher to it!

I do like the idea of crispy bacon though so I shall definitely try that!^

my sauce takes about 2 days to prepare, or one really long day if I feel like staying home and my mother would shoot me if I gave out her recipe

You forgot the ground cloves. Just a pinch or three.

my sauce takes about 2 days to prepare, or one really long day if I feel like staying home and my mother would shoot me if I gave out her recipe

This is the recipe thread equivalent of kids telling one another "I have a secret, but I can't tell you what it is because it's a secret."

Put up or shut up! :)

This is the recipe thread equivalent of kids telling one another "I have a secret, but I can't tell you what it is because it's a secret."

Put up or shut up! :)

I think you're worrying too much.:)

Jars of Ragu are 2/$3.00 at Safeway. Simpler still :p

my sauce takes about 2 days to prepare, or one really long day if I feel like staying home and my mother would shoot me if I gave out her recipe

Wow.. is it some sort of fermenting secret?

Jars of Ragu are 2/$3.00 at Safeway. Simpler still :p

Agree.. no time to cook.. so pour the jar and zap!

The OP's recipe is similar to one from Paul and Mira Sorvino which I came across years ago in the newspaper. I had misplaced it for quite awhile and Googled them and various sauces and never could find it, despite the fact that they have recipes all over the internet. Later, I did find the recipe, which I was happy about because I really like it. I was surprised there are no spices, such as oregano, but the wine gives it a great, rich flavor.


1 T olive oil
1 T butter
1 C finely chopped onion
1/3 C peeled and finely chopped carrot
1/4 C finely chopped celery
3/4 lb. ground chuck
1 C dry white wine
3/4 C whole milk
1 28 oz. canned tomatoes and their juice
2/3 t salt
Freshly grated parmesan cheese.

1. In a 4 or 5 quart Dutch oven or stockpot, heat oil and butter over low heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 7 minutes. Add carrot and celery and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 4 minutes. Do not let vegetables brown.

2. Add the beef and cook until no longer pink, but not browned, about 6 minutes. Add wine and raise heat to medium high and cook, stirring frequently, until the wine is evaporated, about 15 minutes.

3. Lower heat to medium-low, add milk and cook, stirring frequently, until the milk has been absorbed by the meat, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and their juice and the salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the sauce is thick and creamy, about 2 hours.

Note: I've made this since with crushed canned tomatoes instead of diced. It makes for a less chunky sauce.

Serves four with 12 oz.of pasta, preferably rigatoni. Pass the parmesan cheese separately.

I was surprised there are no spices, such as oregano, but the wine gives it a great, rich flavor.


1 T olive oil
1 T butter
1 C finely chopped onion
1/3 C peeled and finely chopped carrot
1/4 C finely chopped celery
3/4 lb. ground chuck
1 C dry white wine
3/4 C whole milk
1 28 oz. canned tomatoes and their juice
2/3 t salt
Freshly grated parmesan cheese.


Similar to mine! I use a mix of veal and beef instead of beef alone. And after the celery/carrot/onions have softened, I add a tablespoon of sugar and some chopped garlic.... then comes the red wine which gets reduced by half, followed by table cream (instead of milk). And always served with tagliatelli.

We make big batches in the 7.5 qt. Le Creuset and freeze smaller portions for that quick go-to meal when pressed for time. ^

Try red wine or port instead of dry white. HUGE difference and fuller flavor ;) ;) After browning your meat, add the wine and let it reduce then add other ingredients.

Some Ariabatta to spice it up..

Some good suggestions here. I had never considered using carrots or milk in a red pasta sauce bolognese/ragu, but after a few experiments, I have to say it works! ^

The milk (or in my recipe above, table cream) neutralizes the acidic content of the tomatoes... smoothes things right out.

This thread is making me hungry! :D

The milk (or in my recipe above, table cream) neutralizes the acidic content of the tomatoes... smoothes things right out.

This thread is making me hungry! :D

the milk in the spaghetti idea isn't sitting well with me though:(

the milk in the spaghetti idea isn't sitting well with me though:(

Try it, you'll like it. It isn't enough to even make the sauce creamy. I saw this thread this a.m. and I started chopping carrots and celery about an hour ago and stopped because I realize I don't have any onions and I don't feel like going out into the 90 degree heat. I was thinking about trying this sauce with lasagne.

Try it, you'll like it. It isn't enough to even make the sauce creamy. I saw this thread this a.m. and I started chopping carrots and celery about an hour ago and stopped because I realize I don't have any onions and I don't feel like going out into the 90 degree heat. I was thinking about trying this sauce with lasagne.

I can see the carrots and celery.. mmm..

The milk and tomatoes.. seems really odd and out of this world..

The milk and tomatoes.. seems really odd and out of this world..

you've never had tomato cream sauce over pasta? Or creamy tomato soup?

SO YUMMY!

you've never had tomato cream sauce over pasta? Or creamy tomato soup?

SO YUMMY!

And, IIRC, pink vodka sauce, in addition to crushed tomatoes, contains as much heavy cream as it does vodka.

you've never had tomato cream sauce over pasta? Or creamy tomato soup?

SO YUMMY!

Yes I have.. many occassions at restaurants that have a soup of the day and serving cream of tomato or something similar..

I prefer having cream of whatever that appears off white or something

This isn't really a ragu but it's really simple.

1. Buy canned, whole tomatoes (~3 cans). Some fresh ones too.
2. Preheat oven to 500-550F.
3. Halve and seed all of them. Set aside a couple unseeded. DO NOT THROW AWAY THE JUICE FROM THE CAN.
4. Lay them down, inside up, in a roasting pan, salt, and pepper. Sprinkle with olive oil and add herbs to taste.
5. Roast the living daylights out of them. Takes about an hour.
6. While that's going, take the juice from the canned tomatoes and some red wine, and put into a saucepan. Reduce. Slice the tomatoes you set aside and set aside again.
7. Pull tomatoes out of the oven. Dump into large pot. Add the fresh tomatoes and reduction, then blend using a stick blender.

If I have time or the energy to do a proper bolognese, on top of the above procedure I would:
1.Sautee ground beef and mushrooms. Sautee some pancetta to go with it if I remember to pick it up at the store. Set aside.
2. Sautee mire poix (by the way, they sell the stuff pre-chopped at Trader Joe's) in some butter. Dump the fresh tomatoes in here. Dump in the meat and mushroom mixture. Dump in enough chicken broth to cover. Put in tomato paste. Stir. Simmer until tomato mixture is ready.
3. Dump the ground tomato mixture into what is now sort of a "stew". Add fresh basil and oregano. Add a bit of heavy cream and parmesan cheese. Simmer, stirring constantly.

Couple things:
1. Season as you go. Salt/pepper goes without saying.
2. Taste, taste, taste.
3. You have exactly three different items cooking at the same time. And if you don't want to have to clean for hours on end afterwards, you also want to clean up as you go.

I don't have quantities because I don't normally measure (or pay attention to measurements). Probably the reason I suck at baking. Couple of times I hadd all of that going at once AND I decided I wanted meatballs instead of sauce. That was chaotic.

The OP's recipe is similar to one from Paul and Mira Sorvino which I came across years ago in the newspaper. I had misplaced it for quite awhile and Googled them and various sauces and never could find it, despite the fact that they have recipes all over the internet. Later, I did find the recipe, which I was happy about because I really like it. I was surprised there are no spices, such as oregano, but the wine gives it a great, rich flavor.


1 T olive oil
1 T butter
1 C finely chopped onion
1/3 C peeled and finely chopped carrot
1/4 C finely chopped celery
3/4 lb. ground chuck
1 C dry white wine
3/4 C whole milk
1 28 oz. canned tomatoes and their juice
2/3 t salt
Freshly grated parmesan cheese.

1. In a 4 or 5 quart Dutch oven or stockpot, heat oil and butter over low heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 7 minutes. Add carrot and celery and cook, stirring frequently, until tender, about 4 minutes. Do not let vegetables brown.

2. Add the beef and cook until no longer pink, but not browned, about 6 minutes. Add wine and raise heat to medium high and cook, stirring frequently, until the wine is evaporated, about 15 minutes.

3. Lower heat to medium-low, add milk and cook, stirring frequently, until the milk has been absorbed by the meat, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and their juice and the salt. Cook, stirring frequently, until the sauce is thick and creamy, about 2 hours.

Serves four with 12 oz.of pasta, preferably rigatoni. Pass the parmesan cheese separately.

Similar to mine! I use a mix of veal and beef instead of beef alone. And after the celery/carrot/onions have softened, I add a tablespoon of sugar and some chopped garlic.... then comes the red wine which gets reduced by half, followed by table cream (instead of milk). And always served with tagliatelli.

We make big batches in the 7.5 qt. Le Creuset and freeze smaller portions for that quick go-to meal when pressed for time. ^

I've made this twice since we've posted. I doubled the recipe both times and froze half of it. The second time I used red wine and crushed tomatoes (instead of canned diced). I didn't notice much of a difference between the red and white wines. I think I'd have to taste them one after the other to determine which was better. I liked the consistency of the sauce better with the crushed tomatoes, however. :)

my sauce takes about 2 days to prepare, or one really long day if I feel like staying home and my mother would shoot me if I gave out her recipe

Please share, your mother will never find out.

Please share, your mother will never find out.

LOL!:D

We sometimes will ask, just to get the insider scoop on anything..;)

I've made this twice since we've posted. I doubled the recipe both times and froze half of it. The second time I used red wine and crushed tomatoes (instead of canned diced). I didn't notice much of a difference between the red and white wines. I think I'd have to taste them one after the other to determine which was better. I liked the consistency of the sauce better with the crushed tomatoes, however. :)Canned diced tomatoes will usually suck. It appears they are picked barely red and immediately diced (this applies to Italian imports, domestics from Del Monte, and the store brands), yielding a flavorless, plastic-y batch. I am guessing it's because it's hard to put a nice ripe juicy tomato through a dicer machine.

Stick with canned plum tomatoes - so much better.

Canned diced tomatoes will usually suck. It appears they are picked barely red and immediately diced (this applies to Italian imports, domestics from Del Monte, and the store brands), yielding a flavorless, plastic-y batch. I am guessing it's because it's hard to put a nice ripe juicy tomato through a dicer machine.

Stick with canned plum tomatoes - so much better.

Agreed..

How can you dice tomotoes and can them.. and expect the texture from becoming mushy?

Agreed..

How can you dice tomotoes and can them.. and expect the texture from becoming mushy?

Any canned tomato is going to be mushy because they are cooked.

Any canned tomato is going to be mushy because they are cooked.

A bit pointless to market a product that's supposed to be fresh and light.. and ends up mushy because of the packaging method..:eek:

Any canned tomato is going to be mushy because they are cooked.

I hope this causes some traffic. But the thing I hate about the cans of tomatos, or fresh or passata is basically the skin, seeds, pulp etc. Taste of tomato - yes. Seeds, pulp, skins - etc. - no.

So recently I did something terrible. I added tomato soup instead of tinned or fresh tomatos. I'm now making the best bolognese sauces I've ever made. I've been using the soup in some curries as well. This combined with the wonderful braised onions in Ez cans of onions ......

If you think about the work and time that goes into cream of tomato soup .......

Anyway - in the UK - Waitrose own brand is better than Heinz if anyone is interested.

A bit pointless to market a product that's supposed to be fresh and light.. and ends up mushy because of the packaging method..:eek:

A canned tomato isn't supposed to be fresh and light. The only times fresh and canned tomatoes are even used for the same things, is if the fresh ones are cooked - which makes them MUSHY. @:-)

Why does anyone buy canned chopped tomatoes anyway? I mean, how hard is it to break whole plum ones up with a wooden spoon or crush them in your hand?

Why does anyone buy canned chopped tomatoes anyway? I mean, how hard is it to break whole plum ones up with a wooden spoon or crush them in your hand?

Well, it's a bit more than just breaking it up isn't it, andd you need to buy quite a lot to replicate the amount in a tin and possibly because even in sunny Saundersfoot, Roma or San Marzano tomatos may not be available all year and the canning process provides the perfect tomatos for the job? And of course they live in the cupboard until you need them unlike fresh ones. With some things canned is better than fresh - like frozen peas are better than shop bought fresh.

They also have more flavour than most of the tomatos that are in most UK shops most of the year round.

So I'd say the answer is availibility, better quality, ease, convenience, and taste?

Any canned tomato is going to be mushy because they are cooked.

Try Muir Glen brand fire roasted canned tomatoes. They are legitimately good.

Try Muir Glen brand fire roasted canned tomatoes. They are legitimately good.

Well, I would think fire roasted would lend a different consistency. BTW, I love canned tomatoes. I'm not the one complaining. :) Tomatoes are one of the few vegetables that are good canned (although they are completely different than a good fresh tomato, and far better than most store bought fresh/flavorless tomatoes).

Why does anyone buy canned chopped tomatoes anyway? I mean, how hard is it to break whole plum ones up with a wooden spoon or crush them in your hand?

Probably for convenience.. if there are no fresh tomatoes in the house..

Out comes the canned ones..

Well, it's a bit more than just breaking it up isn't it, andd you need to buy quite a lot to replicate the amount in a tin and possibly because even in sunny Saundersfoot, Roma or San Marzano tomatos may not be available all year and the canning process provides the perfect tomatos for the job? And of course they live in the cupboard until you need them unlike fresh ones. With some things canned is better than fresh - like frozen peas are better than shop bought fresh.

They also have more flavour than most of the tomatos that are in most UK shops most of the year round.

So I'd say the answer is availibility, better quality, ease, convenience, and taste?

Probably for convenience.. if there are no fresh tomatoes in the house..

Out comes the canned ones..

I'm sorry, it appears I didn't make myself clear. I agree with both of you, canned tomatoes are a fantastic product. I meant why do people buy chopped canned tomatoes as opposed to whole plum canned tomatoes.

I'm sorry, it appears I didn't make myself clear. I agree with both of you, canned tomatoes are a fantastic product. I meant why do people buy chopped canned tomatoes as opposed to whole plum canned tomatoes.

Gotcha..

We buy fresh and canned for different reasons.. one, the fresh ones we expect to consume quickly..

The canned ones, just in case we don't have fresh ones.. into the pantry, and viola out comes some tomatoes conveniently..

my sauce takes about 2 days to prepare, or one really long day if I feel like staying home and my mother would shoot me if I gave out her recipe

Lame. I'll bet your mother would be proud that you like her recipe so much that you want to share it with the world!

Lame. I'll bet your mother would be proud that you like her recipe so much that you want to share it with the world!

Agreed! If there is one thing in this world that should be unconditionally shared it's a great recipe. Anyone who jealously guards something that could give pleasure to many people at no cost to themselves is simply mean spirited IMO.

Lame. I'll bet your mother would be proud that you like her recipe so much that you want to share it with the world!

Agreed! If there is one thing in this world that should be unconditionally shared it's a great recipe. Anyone who jealously guards something that could give pleasure to many people at no cost to themselves is simply mean spirited IMO.

LOL!:D

Here on FlyerTalk we squeeze for miles and points.. now we're squeezing for recipes?;)