Meat Sauces

Italian meat sauces, ragù, are usually made by gently cooking chopped meat with aromatic vegetables (the Italian equivalent of a mirepoix is a soffritto) and adding liquids such as red or white wine and chopped tomatoes. What distinguishes ragù from French sauces is that the meat is left in the sauce, whereas French brown sauces are based on the extract—the braising or poaching liquid (stock)—that has been separated from the cooking meats. This Italian method of including the meat right in the sauce makes ragù a substantial sauce, perfect for pasta. (A French brown sauce wouldn’t cling to pasta and would lack substance.) Italian cooks do sometimes, however, serve pasta in the broth from gently simmered meats (such combinations of pasta in broth are called minestre) and then serve the meat after the pasta with condiment-like sauces such as the Salsa Verde.