Bolognese Sauce

Name: Bolognese Sauce (Ragù alla Bolognese)
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Italy
Ingredients: 1 oz (25 g) dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in warm water for 15 minutes, then drained (optional); 1 tablespoon tomato purée diluted with ¼ wine glass warm water; 1 large glass red wine; 2 oz (50 g) fat prosciutto crudo or fat streaky bacon, finely chopped; 6 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil; salt and pepper; 2 sticks celery, finely chopped; 1 clove garlic, peeled and finely chopped (optional); 1 carrot, scraped and finely chopped; 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped; 1 lb (450 g) lean minced beef

Ragù alla Bolognese

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

Italian Regional Cookery

By Valentina Harris

Published 1990

About

This is the original and best version of this much-loved sauce. It requires a great many ingredients and a lot of time, but it is worth all the effort. Use it to fill cannelloni, to dress plain boiled pasta or to layer in Lasagne. It freezes very well for up to 6 weeks.

Ingredients

6 tablespoons olive or vegetable oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1

Europe
Italy
Bologna
Sauce
Mediterranean
Gluten-free

Method

Heat the oil and fry the onion, carrot, celery and garlic together until the onion is soft and transparent. Add the prosciutto or bacon, stir and simmer for about 4 minutes. Then add the drained mushrooms (if using) and the beef. Brown the beef carefully, without letting it go crisp, then pour in the wine and raise the heat to evaporate the alchohol. Pour in the diluted tomato purée and stir ca