Bolognese recipes
Discussion
Disclaimer: the PH search is down and the google one only allowed me to enter 'bolognese re' which wasn't too helpful. I'm aware there's probably a thread, just can't find it. If you know where it is, links please.
I usually buy Seeds of Change Bolognese sauce but I'd prefer to be able to make my own. The recipes I've tried tend to be bland and not too interesting.
So my question is what's your favourite bolognese sauce recipe and most importantly what's your essential ingredient to give it that edge? Optional question for bonus points is can a proper Bolognese sauce be vegetarian or is meat essential?
I usually buy Seeds of Change Bolognese sauce but I'd prefer to be able to make my own. The recipes I've tried tend to be bland and not too interesting.
So my question is what's your favourite bolognese sauce recipe and most importantly what's your essential ingredient to give it that edge? Optional question for bonus points is can a proper Bolognese sauce be vegetarian or is meat essential?
The key to it for me is the most flavoursome, ripest tomatoes - ie. the kind you can't find in the UK unless you grow them yourself.
Tinned are mostly hopeless, but I think the best of a very sorry lot is 'Sarcona' Polpa di Pomodoro, from Lidl of all places. Nice and chunky, with a thick sauce rather than sour, watery juice.
A clove of sliced garlic, fried in olive oil, plus a can of this, and you've a sauce right there. No meat needed.
Incidentally, home-grown basil knocks spots off what's available in supermarkets. If you're a basil fan, get growing.
Tinned are mostly hopeless, but I think the best of a very sorry lot is 'Sarcona' Polpa di Pomodoro, from Lidl of all places. Nice and chunky, with a thick sauce rather than sour, watery juice.
A clove of sliced garlic, fried in olive oil, plus a can of this, and you've a sauce right there. No meat needed.
Incidentally, home-grown basil knocks spots off what's available in supermarkets. If you're a basil fan, get growing.
Mobile Chicane said:
The key to it for me is the most flavoursome, ripest tomatoes - ie. the kind you can't find in the UK unless you grow them yourself.
Tinned are mostly hopeless, but I think the best of a very sorry lot is 'Sarcona' Polpa di Pomodoro, from Lidl of all places. Nice and chunky, with a thick sauce rather than sour, watery juice.
A clove of sliced garlic, fried in olive oil, plus a can of this, and you've a sauce right there. No meat needed.
Incidentally, home-grown basil knocks spots off what's available in supermarkets. If you're a basil fan, get growing.
In the nicest possible way, dont follow this advice.Tinned are mostly hopeless, but I think the best of a very sorry lot is 'Sarcona' Polpa di Pomodoro, from Lidl of all places. Nice and chunky, with a thick sauce rather than sour, watery juice.
A clove of sliced garlic, fried in olive oil, plus a can of this, and you've a sauce right there. No meat needed.
Incidentally, home-grown basil knocks spots off what's available in supermarkets. If you're a basil fan, get growing.
Bolognese - which is essentially an english b
disation of a ragu, should not be heavy on tomato. In fact, don't use tinned tomatoes, just use tomato paste - much better. Ragu is a meat sauce so yes, it needs meat. It also shouldn't have herbs, or at an absolute push, it should only have hard herbs - rosemary and thyme, not basil. Tomatoes and basil are great, but they are not a ragu. Hard herbs only to withstand the looooong cooking time - basil should always be served as close to raw as possible.
Note: this is all done on a low-medium heat - dont ever turn it up higher
1) Start with a soffrito - onions celery & carrot - sweat this off for at least 20 minutes in olive oil - it should be a very light brown when finished. Add a clove of garlic if you wish, and gently fry for 30 seconds to take the edge off.
2) Add your meat - beef, sausage, pork and/or lamb - mix and match. Ground is better than minced (you dont want that wormy-texture really) and whole chunks can be good too. Fry this off in the same pan with the soffrito - you just want it to not be raw, no colour at all. Grey is (suprisingly) good here.
3) add your herbs (if you must have them) and a tube of tomato paste - mix well and fry for 1 minute gently. Season lightly.
4) add a pint of milk (any, whole is best) and let it simmer for as long as it takes for the milk to evaporate - dont turn the heat up - this can take an 30 - 60 minutes but who gives a damn, this is good eating. Yes it will be bright pink at this stage - just carry on good sir.
5) add a splash of wine (any) and add some water - just to cover the meat mixture and carry on simmering. Each the liquid evaporates off add a small pinch of salt and a splash more water repeatedly.
6) keep simmering like this for at least 2 hours. Alternatively, stick it an over at 120degC and keep an eye on it. Really it needs to simmer (stove or oven) for at least 5 hours to really be any good - the longer, the better. The meat should dissolve into the sauce and become one thick paste almost - dont let it catch, dont turn up the heat, just let it blip along
Yes this will take a long time. Yes you can make a load at one time. No you cant turn up the heat and do it in 15 minutes, or even in under 2 hours - the mixture should be lump free - no meat should be visible from the sauce.
w00tman said:
In the nicest possible way, dont follow this advice.
Bolognese - which is essentially an english bdisation of a ragu, should not be heavy on tomato. In fact, don't use tinned tomatoes, just use tomato paste - much better.
I don't know about that. Bolognese turns out has a definitive recipe that was set down by the Bologna chamber of commerce 30 years ago and that has a load of tinned tomatoes in it. The ingredients don't sound too interesting but I bet an Italian chef could do wonders with them. I'll give it a go.Bolognese - which is essentially an english b
disation of a ragu, should not be heavy on tomato. In fact, don't use tinned tomatoes, just use tomato paste - much better. toxicated said:
I don't know about that. Bolognese turns out has a definitive recipe that was set down by the Bologna chamber of commerce 30 years ago and that has a load of tinned tomatoes in it. The ingredients don't sound too interesting but I bet an Italian chef could do wonders with them. I'll give it a go.
Yeah.. that was a marketing gimmick. There are more ragus than you can shake a stick at and I've made a metric crapload of them and Ive tried none better than the above.
http://forums.egullet.org/index.php/topic/140941-e...hl%20ragu
This is a great resource for people trying various bits and pieces - egullet is probably the most serious food forum out there.
This is a great resource for people trying various bits and pieces - egullet is probably the most serious food forum out there.
If you want to ponder the minutiae then look up Heston's "Perfection" cookbook. He devotes 29 pages to the history and personal pursuit of the perfect Spaghetti Bolognese.
Despite owning this, I can't be arsed to read it.
I'm not sure you need a learn a definitive classic.
Playing around, experimenting with concentrating and balancing sweet, meaty, acidic flavours is part of the fun. Red wine, white wine, star anise, milk, smoked bacon etc. It's only a [John Torode]"bowl 'o' pahsta"[/John Torode].
Despite owning this, I can't be arsed to read it.
I'm not sure you need a learn a definitive classic.
Playing around, experimenting with concentrating and balancing sweet, meaty, acidic flavours is part of the fun. Red wine, white wine, star anise, milk, smoked bacon etc. It's only a [John Torode]"bowl 'o' pahsta"[/John Torode].
w00tman said:
Yeah.. that was a marketing gimmick. There are more ragus than you can shake a stick at and I've made a metric crapload of them and Ive tried none better than the above.
Indeed - the clue is in 'Chamber of Commerce'... 'Bolognese' is the probably most un-Italian Italian dish ever anyway!Will have to give your Ragu recipe a spin sometime - looks like a great way of whiling away a couple of hours!
Personally I use this one : http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/cuisine/europea...
Then bag & freeze it.I think I get about nine bags with it & each serves two.
Then bag & freeze it.I think I get about nine bags with it & each serves two.
GWC said:
Agreed - that is good. A mixture of meat, a decent soffrito, tomato paste not tinned - superb.I always use this one from Gino D'acampo which I love. Always put in some chilli as well though.
Ingredients
500 g17¾ oz fresh fettuccine or tagliatelle
500 g17¾ oz minced beef
500 g17¾ oz minced pork
4 tbsp olive oil
1 large carrot, peeled and grated
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 celery sticks, finely chopped
1x 700 ml24¾ fl oz bottle of passata (sieved tomatoes)
2 tbsp tomato puree
2 glasses of dry red wine
200 ml7 fl oz chicken stock
Salt and pepper, to taste
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and cook the onions, carrot and celery for 5 minutes on a medium heat. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon.
Add in the minced meats and continue to cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring continuously until coloured all over. Season with salt and pepper.
Pour in the wine, stir well and continue to cook for 5 minutes until the wine has evaporated.
Pour in the sieved tomatoes with the tomato puree and the stock, lower the heat and cook for 2 hours with the lid off. Stir the sauce every 20 minutes.
Once the sauce is ready, remove from the heat, season with salt and pepper and set aside.
In a large saucepan, cook the pasta in the salted boiling water until al dente.
Drain and tip back into the same pan where you cooked it.
Place the saucepan back on a low heat, pour over the bolognese sauce and gently stir all together for 30 seconds allowing the flavours to combine properly.
Serve hot with a little grated parmesan cheese on top.
Ingredients
500 g17¾ oz fresh fettuccine or tagliatelle
500 g17¾ oz minced beef
500 g17¾ oz minced pork
4 tbsp olive oil
1 large carrot, peeled and grated
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 celery sticks, finely chopped
1x 700 ml24¾ fl oz bottle of passata (sieved tomatoes)
2 tbsp tomato puree
2 glasses of dry red wine
200 ml7 fl oz chicken stock
Salt and pepper, to taste
Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and cook the onions, carrot and celery for 5 minutes on a medium heat. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon.
Add in the minced meats and continue to cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring continuously until coloured all over. Season with salt and pepper.
Pour in the wine, stir well and continue to cook for 5 minutes until the wine has evaporated.
Pour in the sieved tomatoes with the tomato puree and the stock, lower the heat and cook for 2 hours with the lid off. Stir the sauce every 20 minutes.
Once the sauce is ready, remove from the heat, season with salt and pepper and set aside.
In a large saucepan, cook the pasta in the salted boiling water until al dente.
Drain and tip back into the same pan where you cooked it.
Place the saucepan back on a low heat, pour over the bolognese sauce and gently stir all together for 30 seconds allowing the flavours to combine properly.
Serve hot with a little grated parmesan cheese on top.
this stuff is amazing on pasta, it is a tad hot as its calbrian, but damn its good
http://www.harveynichols.com/food-wine/categories/...
http://www.harveynichols.com/food-wine/categories/...
I normally use this Giorgio Locatelli recipe which is very good - http://www.tummyrumble.net/2010/03/ragu-alla-bolog... - if somewhat rich. It uses passata instead of tinned tomatoes.
Fancy a change though, so I will try Mr w00tman's recipe this weekend - sounds great!
Fancy a change though, so I will try Mr w00tman's recipe this weekend - sounds great!
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