Spaghetti Bolognese - A Step By Step Original Recipe -From The Graziani Family!
The Bolognese sauce, or "ragout", is a renowned ground meat sauce, typical of Emilia Romagna. It can be personalized in many ways, above all depending on the choice of meat, which consequently influences the cooking time of the ragout itself. There is, among the several existing versions, an official recipe of the Bolognese ragout, which was registered on the 17th October 1982 by the Italian Cooking Academy at the Chamber of Commerce of Bologna. This recipe recommends one should use a particularly fat cut of meat called cartella, which is a cut below sirloin and ribs on the belly of the beef. Nowadays, in order to reduce the caloric intake of the Bolognese sauce, the beef cartella is often replaced by leaner cuts, which considerably shorten the cooking time. Even bacon, which is quite fatty, is often substituted with sausage, equally savory, yet leaner.
INGREDIENTS
Servings: 6 persons
- 1/2 lb Beef: minced (cartella, shoulder blade or chuck tender)
- 1/2 lb Pork: minced (leg)
- 3.5 oz Bacon: (flat or rolled)
- 1 Carrot (Medium Size)
- 1 Onion (Medium Size)
- 1 Celery Stalk
- 3 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 3.5 tbsp Butter
- 1 Glass Red Wine
- 2 cups Fresh Whole Milk
- 1 cup Broth (meat)
- 2 tbsp Tomatoes (triple concentrate)
- Salt: to taste
- Pepper: freshly ground, to taste
- Parmesan cheese: grated to taste for sprinkling
PREPARATION
- The first step in preparing the Bolognese sauce is to peel the onion and the carrot; then remove the strings from the celery and finely chop these 3 ingredients.
- Put the oil and the butter in a deep pan; once the butter is melted, add the chopped vegetables and let them brown lightly while stirring.
- In the meanwhile, finely chop the bacon and add it to the ground meat ; combine everything in the pan and fry until well browned, stirring occasionally.
- At this point, add the red wine and let it evaporate.
- Then melt the triple tomato paste concentrate in a small amount of broth and add it to the meat.
- Stir, salt and let the ragout simmer on a low flame for about 1.5 hours, adding little by little, when necessary, the remaining broth and finally the milk.
- When the Bolognese sauce is ready, add salt and pepper to taste.
- While your sauce is simmering, cook the spaghetti (al dente) and then add it to the ragout.
- Mix well and put some grated Parmesan cheese on the table, which your guests will sprinkle on their pasta to taste.
