Tagliatelle al ragu recipe (authentic Bolognese meat sauce)
A rich and authentic tagliatelle al ragu straight from Bologna. This traditional tagliatelle al ragu recipe is slow-cooked for hours with beef, pancetta, tomato paste, and milk. Creating a thick, creamy, and deeply flavourful Italian meat sauce. Perfect for a cosy family dinner or to impress your guests with a true taste of Italy.
Servings: 4 people
Calories: 741kcal
Equipment
- Food processor to finely shredded the veggies and the pancetta
- 1 large sauce pan to cook the ragu
- 1 Wooden spoon to stir and scrap
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 carrot (82 gr) 2,9 oz
- 1 celery stalk (38 gr) 1,4 oz
- ½ onion (90gr) 3,18 oz
- 100 gr unsmoked pancetta 3,6 oz
- 350 gr minced beef 12,4 oz
- 90 ml San Giovese red wine 3,05 fl oz
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 L Vegetable broth 33,9 fl oz
- 1 Bay leaf
- 90 ml Milk 3,05 fl oz
- Salt to taste
- 400 gr Dried tagliatelle 14,11 oz
Instructions
- Add the carrot, celery, onion and pancetta to a food processor and blitz the ingredients until are finely shredded. Meanwhile, warm up the broth.
- Add the extra virgin olive oil along with the shredded veggies and pancetta, in a large sauce pan. Turn the heat on medium heat and cook the soffritto for 6 minutes, or until pale and soft. Stir and scrub the bottom of the pan with a wooden spatula.
- Increase the heat to medium-high. Add the minced beef to the pan, and break it up, by pushing the meat towards the side of the pan with a wooden spoon. Brown the meat and keep stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan for 8 minutes.
- Pour the wine and scrub the bottom of the pan. Let the wine evaporate. Once the alcohol is gone add the tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes. Keep mixing and scrubbing.
- Add the bay leaf and half of the hot broth. Cover the pan with the lid and reduce the heat to low. Let the ragu simmer gently. Mix every now and then. After one hour, add the remaining broth and let it cook for another hour. Then remove the bay leaf, pour the milk. Let it cook for two hours and stir occasionally. The ragu is ready when it's thick, rich, and a layer of oil appears on top.
- Once the ragu is ready cook the pasta in a large pot with plenty of boiling water. Serve the tagliatelle alla bolognese with the ragu and plenty of Parmigiano Reggiano.
Notes
Store
Store the ragu leftover in alright container in the fridge up to 4 days. Reheat in a pan with a splash of pasta water, before adding the pasta. Alternatively, freeze the ragu up to 1 month. Before use, defrost it in the fridge for 12 hours.beef ragu, meat sauce, rich sauce, slow cooking, tomato paste, tomato sauce, weekend recipe, winter dinner
