Classic Ragu alla Bolognese
By Valentina Harris
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Easy
This very old fashioned sauce for pasta is traditionally used to dress Tagliatelle or for Lasagna or Cannelloni. The important thing is to keep the meat looking like chopped meat rather than mince. Makes enough to lightly dress 400 g pasta
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Ingredients
- 100 g pork loin boned
- 100 g beef steak, boned
- 100 g prosciutto crudo, including all the fat
- 100 g unsalted butter
- 1 carrot, finely chopped
- 1 stick celery, finely chopped
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 50 g un-smoked pancetta or fatty, streaky un-smoked bacon, finely chopped
- 1 heaped tbsp De Rica tomato puree diluted in 1 glass hot water
- Salt and freshly milled black pepper
- 300 ml hot beef stock or water
- 100 g chicken livers, washed, trimmed and finely chopped
- 6 tbsp double or single cream
- 1 tbsp truffle butter
Method
- Chop the meats together finely with a heavy knife.
- Melt half the butter and fry together the vegetables and pancetta or bacon for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring.
- Add the chopped meats and stir together to seal all over.
- Add the diluted tomato puree. Season with the salt and pepper.
- Stir thoroughly, cover and leave to simmer very slowly for about 2 hours. During this time never let it dry out, but stir frequently and keep adding a little hot water or beef stock.
- After about 2 hours, when all the meat is tender, add the chicken livers and simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Then stir in all the cream, and the truffle butter, if using. Leave to stand under required or use at once, but it does improve with standing and reheating.
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About the author
Valentina Harris is a passionate Italian cook and award-winning author with more than 30 books to her name, including The Italian Regional Cookbook; Risotto! Risotto!; Classic Recipes of Tuscany; 500 Italian Recipes, and Valentina Harris’s Complete Italian Cookery Course. Educated in Italy, Valentina brought her qualifications for teaching and cooking from Rome to London in 1976. As a regular face at food festivals in the UK, Valentina stills finds time to share her expertise and love of Italian food by hosting courses, plus can be found regularly contributing to radio, TV, newspapers, and magazines.
