Authentic Bolognese Sauce From Bologna

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A recipe for a meat sauce for pasta that is specifically described as being "bolognese" appeared in Pellegrino Artusi's cookbook of 1891. In 1982 the Italian Academy of Cuisine registered a recipe for authentic ragù alla bolognese with the Bologna Chamber of Commerce, incorporating pancetta and milk. 

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Outside of Italy, "Bolognese sauce" most often refers to a tomato-based sauce with ground beef. These sauces bear little resemblance to ragù alla bolognese.

In Italy every pasta shape has a specific sauce. It developed this way because, if you are eating pasta night after night, as was the case with many poor Italian families, it is going to get really boring if you eat rigatoni every single night. The different shapes combined with the different sauces allowed for a great deal of variety. As well, different pastas work best with different sauces. That is why In Italy bolognese sauce is not served with spaghetti, for example, because the pasta shape doesn't hold the sauce, though outside of Italy and particularly in America, spaghetti with meat sauce is a popular dish.

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How To Make Bolognese Sauce

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Authentic bolognese sauce, known in Italian as ragù alla bolognese, or simply ragù, is a meat sauce originating in Bologna, Italy. In Italian cuisine, it is used to dress long flat pastas like tagliatelle and papperdelle and to prepare lasagna bolognese.

Traditional ingredients include the characteristic soffritto of onion, celery and carrot, finely chopped beef, pork and a little bit of pancetta. There is also red wine, a small amount of tomato concentrate or tomato paste, and milk. The sauce is then gently simmered over several hours to produce a thick sauce.

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Ingredients for Bolognese sauce: onion, celery, carrot, pancetta, prosciutto, red wine and milk.

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Ground beef and pork for Bolognese sauce.

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Add the olive oil to a 12-quart pot and place over a medium-low burner. Add the pancetta and fry gently in a the olive oil until it starts to release its fat.

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Add the onion, carrot, and celery and cook until the onion is transparent, stirring from time to time.

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Add the beef and pork to the vegetable pancetta mixture.

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Cook the meat mixture until it is lightly browned. When it starts to make popping noises, it’s done.

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Add the prosciutto, the tomato puree and the wine and mix well. Add the milk, little by little until it is completely absorbed.

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Authentic Bolognese Sauce Is A Meat Sauce From Bologna Italy

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• Yield: about 6-quarts
• Prep Time: 1 hour
• Cook Time: 3 to 4 hours

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Ingredients

• 60 ml / 2 ounces / 1/4 cup olive oil
• 113 grams / 4 ounces pancetta, finely chopped
• 1 large  onion, finely chopped
• 1 small carrot, finely chopped
• 1 large celery rib, finely chopped
• 450 grams / 1 pound beef chuck, ground
• 450 grams / 1 pound pork shoulder, ground
• 113 grams / 4 ounces prosciutto - See notes
• 60 ml / 2 ounces / 1/4 cup tomato paste, double concentrated
• 350 ml / 12 ounces / 1-1/2 cups dry red wine, (sangiovese)
• 350 ml / 12 ounces / 1-1/2 cups whole milk
• Kosher salt and cracked pepper, to taste

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Method

1. Add the olive oil to a 12-quart pot and place over a medium-low burner. Add the pancetta and fry gently in a the olive oil until it starts to release its fat.
2. Add the onion, carrot, and celery and fry until the onion is transparent, stirring from time to time.
3. Add the beef and pork  and cook until it is lightly browned. When it starts to make popping noises, it’s done.
4. Add the prosciutto, the tomato puree and the wine and mix well. Add the milk, little by little until it is completely absorbed.
5. Season with salt and pepper, and cook over low heat, very slowly, for 3 to 4 hours. Stir occasionally and if it looks like it is getting too dry, add a little more milk.

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Notes

1. Serve with Fettuccine or Tagliatelle or papperdelle. A side note, in Italy it's tagliatelle, in America it's fettuccine.
2. Toss the pasta in a little butter or olive oil and then in Parmigiano Reggiano before adding the meat sauce.  Serve with extra Parmigiano Reggiano on the side.
3. Authentic bolognese sauce does not have prosciutto as an ingredient. So if you want this to be authentic omit the prosciutto. and double the pancetta

Tags: authentic bolognese sauce, bolognese sauce recipe, how to make bolognese sauce

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