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.

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

Wow.. is it some sort of fermenting secret?

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.

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