Best simmered bolognese sauce recipe

Nys Aqyla    9/16/2022    Braising & Stewing , Ground Beef , Ground Lamb , Italian , Stovetop Pasta   

It's the bolognese that will leave you and your loved ones with weak knees.

In this recipe

• The best meat for Ragù Bolognese 
• How to use liver in Ragù Bolognese
• Best cooking liquid for Ragù Bolognese
• How to get tender and delicious meat
• Make Ragù Bolognese even tastier
• Ragù Bolognese Pasta Vinaigrette
  

why does it work?

• Roasting the sauce slowly in the oven saves stirring time and keeps everything tender, while preserving the well-developed, golden flavor.
• The combination of beef, lamb, pork, pancetta and chicken liver adds flavor and richness, and the gelatin creates a sauce that is smooth to the body.
• Finish with heavy cream and Parmesan to emulsify the sauce.
• The fish sauce added last enhances the umami flavor of the sauce.

If there's one thing I miss most about New York (aside from pizza, of course), it's the cold, snowy winters. Not just because I love the cold and snow (it's true!), but also because those freezing cold days make meaty, simmered, sticky winter dishes all the better. And there is no dish more delicious or satisfying than a large pot of bolognese sauce.

It was an almost Pavlovian reaction for me: as soon as I saw the first snowflakes of winter, my feet went to the butcher's counter, my arms reached for the largest oven in the Netherlands and my fingers. I pointed to this wooden spoon. (How all three of them do this at the same time is something my brain hasn't figured out yet.)

Ragù Bolognese is the kind of dish that I make in large batches, prepare and ship to family members. This is the kind of food where I'll spice it up, then taste it again, then taste it again, and maybe again just to be sure, and before I knew it, I'd eaten a few servings right from the start. in the pot and ruined my appetite, only to find that, no, my appetite for bolognese was alive and well when it hit the dinner table.

Let's make one thing clear right away: when I say "ragù bolognese", I'm talking about real ragù. * This stewed meat sauce is almost entirely meaty, with only a small amount of wine, broth, tomatoes, and dairy products to bind it together. The "spaghetti bolognese" you get in Little Italy or a British pub, made with ground beef cooked in marinara sauce, may be delicious, but it's something else entirely.

* Of course, even saying "true ragù" are fighting words. Depending on who you ask, whether it's a chef in Bologna or The Silver Spoon, the recipes vary widely. But all agree that the sauce should be meaty, with small extra ingredients to enhance - not compete with - that meat. 

My love for bolognese dates back to when I was a chef at Park 9, Barbara Lynch's flagship new northern Italian food restaurant in Boston. One of my jobs every morning, all winter, was to pull the giant circle that would fit over four knots and prepare a batch of ragù Bolognese to serve the following evening. (We always leave it at least overnight in the fridge for the best flavor.) I carefully browned three different ground meats while sautéing the onions, carrots, celery, sage leaves, and chicken livers. in a separate pan. . I mix the two together, then simmer with a mixture of veal and chicken broth, milk, wine, and a bit of tomato.

Hours later, it is transformed into a velvety smooth sauce, so rich and hearty that only the largest strips of pappardelle or fresh tagliatelle can resist.

Over the years I have tweaked and perfected this bolognese recipe, testing every variation I can think of to improve its taste and texture and make it more personal to taste. mine. I've come up with several variations on this theme, including this No Forbidden Lasagna Bolognese.

Recently, I discovered that the oven is the best way to make a rich and flavorful tomato sauce. What if I use the same technique with my Bolognese recipe? 

What is the best meat for Ragù Bolognese?

Bolognese is a kind of meat sauce and the choice of meat is one of the most important factors. At Park #9, Lynch used a combination of raw ground veal, pork, and lamb. Why? Veal has a lot of gelatin, but little flavor. It gives the finished sauce a silky smooth texture. Pork has a lot of fat, moderate flavor. This fat emulsifies well in the finished sauce. Finally, lamb has a lot of flavor, but the texture is quite rough. Combining all three will create a flavorful, fatty, silky mixture just the way you want it in a meatball or meatloaf.

But I always wonder: since veal is rather bland (not to mention expensive and hard to find), is there a better way to incorporate both gelatin and flavor into the mix? I know that if I remove it, I will have to find another source of gelatin. This is compounded by the fact that although the original recipe used gelatin-rich veal bone broth, I almost never have anything but chicken broth at home and I'm not sure about spending a days to cook veal broth for a four-hour recipe of its own.

I tried following the same recipe, but replaced the veal with ground beef and used 100% chicken broth. It tastes better, but the sauce lacks its classic chewiness. Solution? Just add this gelatin alone.

Six full packets of gelatin, expanded in a store-bought thin chicken broth, provide the body with enough to be an improvement over the enhanced version of veal broth. Ground beef enhances the flavor and pancetta, a common ingredient in many ragù recipes, even adds flavor.

What advantage does pancetta offer over stale ground pork? Ham is a more concentrated source of glutamic and inosinic acids. Glutamic acid - commercially available as MSG powder - is the organic compound found in deli meats, cheeses, and seafood that is primarily responsible for the umami (aka salty) taste, while acid inosinic acts as a prophylactic, increasing the effect of glutamic acid.

I've tried to combine pancetta in different ways: by grinding it, by chopping it up in a food processor, and by adding a simple dice. The third method is the easiest and melts into the sauce as it cooks. In the original Park #9 recipe, the meat is cooked in a separate pot from the vegetables. This style of pan cooking is quite common in restaurant kitchens because cooking such as meat with meat and vegetables with vegetables gives you immediate control over how well these ingredients cook when working in large batches.

I'm not one to skimp on unnecessary restoration techniques for indoor use, but in this case it worked well, especially since I love making my ragù in bulk.

How to use liver in Ragù Bolognese

Which brings us to what many who have tried Barbara Lynch's formula will consider the key factor. ... It's an ingredient Pellegrino Artusi suggested in his 1891 cookbook The Science of the Kitchen and The Art of Culinary Arts, which included one of the first printed recipes for Bolognese ragù. Chicken liver is not part of many modern recipes.

The liver adds flavor and richness to the sauce in a way that lingers on the base. No one who has tasted the sauce can suspect liver in it, unless they take a bite.

At the restaurant, I carefully clean and cut the tendons and connective tissue from each liver before mincing it by hand. Now I find it easier to puree them with an immersion blender.
What is the best cooking liquid for Ragù Bolognese? Let's now turn to the most controversial element of any Bolognese ragù recipe: the liquid. Do we use wine? White or red? And milk? Does it really keep the meat tender? And the tomatoes?

I can't answer any of these questions validly, but I can tell you that what I found produces the best results, based on years of testing, reading, taste and study.

First of all: alcohol.

It makes almost no difference whether you use red or white. As long as you start with something dry and relatively oak-free, the color of the wine will have little effect on the final flavor or appearance of the finished sauce.

Whether you choose red or white, wine is an essential element, adding shine and acidity to balance the heaviness of the meat.

 

Tomatoes are another sour part of the mix. The classic Silver Spoon recipe uses no liquid other than tomato paste and water or broth for dilution. I like to use canned whole tomatoes, preferably high quality ones like imported Italian D.O.P. San Marzanos.

The broth is enriched with gelatin which makes up most of the liquid. As this supply decreases, it becomes darker in flavor and texture.

And now, let's turn to the most controversial factor: dairy products.

Okay, so there's no arguing. Almost all modern Bolognese ragù recipes call for dairy products in some form, be it milk or cream. What is controversial is precisely the effects of dairy products. Many sources claim that adding milk to the pan early in the cooking process helps to soften the meat, though few have offered an explanation as to why.

The closest I could find to an explanation was this passage from Cook's Illustrated:

"Why does milk make meat tender?" Brown adds flavor, but it also denatures the protein molecules in ground meat. As the proteins unfold, they bind together to create a tighter network and squeeze some of the juice out of the meat. Long boiling allows some of this liquid to be reabsorbed. But if you skip the browning process and cook the meat in the original milk (or any other liquid), you limit the temperature of the meat to about 212 degrees Celsius. That way, the meat cooked in the milk doesn't burn. dry, hard but still soft.

If you read it carefully, you'll realize that, at best, this section should probably be titled "Why is meat cooked in any liquid still more tender than meat you brown?"

I like to take my science in the old-fashioned way: through common sense experimentation. I have made several batches of ragù using different ratios of liquids, from 100% milk to 100% broth. It turns out that the liquid you cook the meat with doesn't affect the tenderness of the result at all. Meat cooked in broth is indistinguishable from meat cooked in milk.

That said, adding milk to the cooking liquid and letting it lessen affects the final flavor of the ragù, giving it a rounder structure and a softer texture. Could it be that the chewiness of the liquid in the mouth makes some people think that the meat itself is softer?

Either way, it's clear that adding milk is a good thing.

How to get tender and delicious meat

And now we come to the most important part of the process: long cooking. Browning meat adds flavor, but can make it tougher. How do you get that great golden flavor without reducing the tender meat to dry crumbs? The reason I'm so excited for this year's Bolognese season is because of a new red sauce technique I developed by simmering in the oven instead of the stove.

The oven not only provides more even heat and better reduction with less mess, but also creates delicious chunks of caramelized tomatoes on the surface of the sauce and around the sides of the pan, which you can stir into the sauce. The finished product gives it a richer, deeper and more complex flavor.

What if I do the same with my bolognese? In theory, this technique should deliver a lot of flavor through the browning peanuts and proteins that cling to the inner edges of the pan, as well as the small pieces of meat that are exposed to the surface of the simmering sauce, in while keeping most of the water submerged and the meat tender.

Do you like it when your theory becomes reality in real life? By baking the sauce in the oven and scraping the edges as it cooks, I got a complete sauce that's full of golden browned meat flavor, but still soft and silky.

This is what your sauce will look like when cooked. It will begin to be watery and milky, and as it cooks slowly for a few hours, this liquid will eventually reduce so much that it can no longer emulsify with the fat secreted from the meat. When that fat forms a thick layer on top of a super thick sauce, you're ready to go.

Back in Park #9, we threw the sauce in the freezer to chill, letting the fat solidify so we could scoop it out and stir in just the right amount as we reheated each dish. At home, I skimmed the scum and left it with only about a cup of finished dipping sauce, just enough to make the sauce rich and flavorful without being greasy. This can be done immediately with liquid fat, or the solid fat on top can be removed after chilling overnight.

Make Ragù Bolognese even tastier

 There is already parsley in cooked vegetables, but fresh parsley added after cooking adds a different herbal flavor. (The added fresh sage is overwhelming at this point.) Grated parmesan also enhances the umami of the sauce, while helping to bind them together.

I like to finish my sauce with a mouthful of heavy cream. It makes the sauce richer and helps to emulsify it, allowing the extra fat you've been saving to blend together nicely.

Finally, we come to the secret ingredient. If you are from Bologna, now is a good time to look the other way: fish sauce. Yes, fish sauce. I'm talking about the Southeast Asian savory condiment made from fermented anchovies.

From a taste standpoint, it makes sense. Fish sauce contains a lot of glutamate and inosinates that we talked about earlier. It gives an unparalleled taste to your finished sauce and won't make it taste like fish. Besides, in Italian cuisine, it's not exactly out of place. There are many Italian dishes that claim to enhance the meat with a splash of glutamate-rich seafood. Fermented anchovies are widely used in southern Italian cuisine. And if we flip back to ancient Roman history, we find that fish sauce similar to garum, a condiment of choice at the time, was made from - you guessed it - fermented anchovies. 

What to do with sauce like this? If you want to please your friends and loved ones, serve it with the freshest pasta you can make or buy, preferably one with a big, thick shape, like a pappardelle. (Here's a tip: Buy fresh lasagna noodles and cut them by hand into one-inch ribbons.) Dry pastas, like penne rigate or aroma, also work well.

Ragù Bolognese Pasta Vinaigrette

Cook the noodles in salted water (and, whoever tells you, don't make that water as salty as the sea if you want your noodles to be edible - seawater is much saltier than most people think), then let Drain it, reserve a portion of the starchy liquid. Return to the pot, add most of your sauce, dilute with the pasta cooking liquid and cook over low heat for about 30 seconds, until the sauce has a nice pasta texture.

 It's a sauce that not only promises to taste good as you eat it, but also leaves your whole house smelling great for four to five hours of cooking and days after it's finished. It is completely intoxicating and absorbing.

How to Make Ragù Bolognese

 Formula Events

• Preparation: 10 minutes
• Cooking: 3:45
• Activity: 60 minutes
• Total: 3:55
• Make: 8 to 10 servings

Element

• 1 quart (1 pint) low-sodium chicken broth, homemade or store-bought
• 1 to 1 1/2 ounces powdered gelatin (4 to 6 packets; 30 to 45 g), such as Knox (see note)
• 1 can (800g; 800g) whole tomatoes, preferably San Marzano
• 1/2 pound (225 g) shredded chicken liver
• 1/4 cup (60 ml) extra virgin olive oil
• 1 pound (450g) ground beef (about 20 cups)
• 1 pound (450 g) ground pork shoulder (about 20 c)
• 1 pound (450 g) minced lamb shoulder (about 20 c)
• kosher salt and freshly ground, divided black pepper
• 4 tablespoons (60g) unsalted butter
• 1/2 pound (225g) finely chopped pancetta
• 1 large onion, thinly sliced ​​(about 8 ounces; 225g)
• 2 carrots, finely chopped (about 8 ounces; 225 g)
• 4 celery ribs, finely chopped (about 8 ounces; 225 g)
• 4 medium cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup (about 25g) chopped fresh sage leaves
• 1/2 cup (about 50g) chopped fresh parsley leaves, finely divided
• 2 cups (475 ml) of dry white or red wine
• 1 cup (235 ml) whole milk
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 cup (235 ml) of whipped cream
• 3 ounces (85g) finely grated parmesan
• 2 tablespoons (30 ml) Vietnamese or Thai fish sauce, such as Red Boat

Service:

• 2 pounds dry or fresh pasta, preferably pappardelle, tagliatelle or penne

Direction

Place the oven rack in the lower center position and preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Pour broth into a medium bowl or 1-quart measuring jug and sprinkle with gelatin. Set aside. Puree the tomatoes in a can with an immersion blender or transfer to the bowl of a table blender and blend until smooth. Place chicken liver in a cup that fits the top of a immersion blender and puree until smooth. 

Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over high heat until the oil is bubbly. Add ground beef, pork and lamb, season with a little salt and pepper and cook, using a wooden spoon or potato masher to stir and divide until no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the ground chicken liver.

Meanwhile, heat the butter and pancetta in a large saucepan over medium-high and cook, stirring frequently, until the fat is almost melted but the butter and pancetta have not yet begun to brown, about 8 minutes. . Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, sage and half of the parsley and cook, stirring constantly, until the vegetables are completely tender but not browned, about 8 minutes. Add the cooked vegetables to the meat mixture.

Return the Dutch oven to high and cook while stirring, until most of the liquid has evaporated from the pan, about 10 minutes more.

Add wine and cook, stirring, until almost completely evaporated. Add the reserved broth, tomatoes, milk, and bay leaves. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

Bring the sauce to a boil, then transfer to the oven, uncovered. Cook, tossing, and scraping the sides of the pan from time to time, until the liquid is almost completely reduced and the sauce is rich under a thick layer of fat, 3 to 4 hours. If the sauce is still runny or the fat has not separated and thickened after 4 hours, transfer to the stove and cook over high heat, stirring frequently.

Carefully skim off most of the fat, leaving about 1 cup total. (For a more accurate measurement, skim off the foam completely, then add 1 cup of the fat.) Alternatively, let the sauce cool at this point and store in the refrigerator overnight to allow the fat to solidify and flavor blend. Next, skim off the solid fat, set aside a cup to add while the sauce is still warm.

Add cream, cheese, fish sauce and remaining parsley and stir well. Bring to a boil on the stove, stirring constantly to emulsify. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Bolognese can be refrigerated and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week, or frozen for later use. 

To serve: Heat the sauce in a large saucepan until simmering. Set aside. Cook pasta in a large pot of salted water until just red. Drain, set aside 1/2 cup of cooking liquid. Return the pasta to the pot and add just enough sauce to coat it, along with some cooking water. Cook over high heat, stirring gently, until sauce thickens and coats noodles, about 30 seconds. Transfer to serving bowl and serve immediately, transferring parmesan to the table.