Ragù served over silken egg tagliatelle is one of the signature dishes of Bologna, the food-loving capital of Emilia-Romagna. This rich, meaty tomato ragù is so closely associated with the city that any dish described as Bolognese will be cloaked in it. There are two options: make your own pasta and ragù following the traditional steps, which typically takes about two hours, or use authentic Emilia-Romagnan products to create the dish in half an hour.
Ingredients for 4 people
For the pasta
- 1 pound egg tagliatelle (use dry or make fresh dough)
- Grana Padano DOP cheese, for serving
- Coarse sea salt, for pasta water
For the ragù: using a producer's traditional ragù
- 1½ cups of ragù alla Bolognese
- Extra virgin olive oil, to taste
- 1 clove garlic
For the ragù: to make your own
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, minced
- 1 small carrot, minced
- 1 rib celery, minced
- 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
- 4 ounces ground veal
- 4 ounces ground pork
- 4 ounces ground beef
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- ¼ cup white wine
- ¼ cup chicken or beef stock
- Fine sea salt, to taste
How to make Tagliatelle alla Bolognese
To make your own ragù
- In a heavy Dutch oven or large heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat, melt the butter with the olive oil. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Add the carrot, celery and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until softened and fragrant, about 2 minutes more.
- Crumble the veal, pork and beef into the pot. Season with fine sea salt. Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, until the meat has rendered most of its fat and is just beginning to brown, about 5 minutes.
- Spoon out and discard some of the rendered fat, but leave enough to cover the bottom of the pan. This depends on the meat you are using, as there may not be an excessive amount of fat.
- Add the wine and increase the heat to medium. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the wine has evaporated, about 6 minutes.
- Decrease the heat to low, add the tomato paste, stir to combine and cook, stirring frequently, for 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Add the stock and adjust the heat if necessary to reach a gentle simmer. Simmer until the stock has reduced but the sauce is still moist, about 45 minutes longer. Taste, adjust the seasoning if necessary and remove from the heat.
Cooking the pasta
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. When the water is boiling, salt it with coarse salt and add the pasta. Cook a few minutes less than package instructions if dry, or until the pasta rises to the surface if fresh.
- When the pasta is cooked, drain it in a colander, preserving a small amount of the cooking water. Transfer immediately to the saucepan and toss vigorously to combine, allowing the pasta to cook a final minute in the sauce. If needed, add a small amount of the cooking water to loosen the sauce.
- Serve immediately with the grated cheese on the side.
