Best simmered bolognese sauce recipe

Best simmered bolognese sauce recipe

Nys Aqyla    9/16/2022   

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.

Basic Bolognese Ragù recipe

Basic Bolognese Ragù recipe

Nys Aqyla    9/05/2022   

How to make ragù Bolognese from scratch. The classic Italian bolognese sauce is an essential part of many noodle dishes, including the lasagna bolognese.

 

 

 why does it work?

• Gelatin strengthens the body of the sauce, making it rich and delicious.
• Browning only half of the meat creates a great barbecue flavor, but leaves the other half tender and beautiful, even after cooking for a long time.
• Fish sauce has added saltiness without adding a fishy smell.

 Ragù bolognese is one of the best meat sauces in the world and is an essential part of several noodle dishes, including the classic lasagna bolognese. This recipe offers a clean Bolognese sauce that showcases the subtle sweetness of buttermilk and herbs, along with the pungent notes of nutmeg. A final touch of cream creates a luxuriously smooth final texture.

Ragù Bolognese can be made in advance and refrigerated for up to five days; It can be frozen for up to three months.
 
Recipe event

Activity: 60 minutes                        Servings: 16 servings

Total: 3h45                                       Make: 2 pints

Element

• 2 packets of unflavored gelatin powder (1/2 ounce; 15g)
• 2 cups (475 mL) homemade or store-bought low sodium broth
• 3 tablespoons (45g) unsalted butter
• 2 large carrots (about 375g; 12 ounces), peeled and finely chopped (see note)
• 3 medium celery chops (about 240 g; 8 ounces); finely chopped (see note)
• 2 medium yellow onions (about 480 g; 1 pound), finely chopped (see note)
• 4 pounds (1.8 kg) ground meat, whole beef, or 2 pounds beef with 1 pound ground pork and veal each, split (see note)
• 1/4 cup (60 mL) tomato paste
• 1 1/2 cups (350 ml) dry white or red wine
• 2 bay leaves
• Kosher salt
• Pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon (3 ml) Asian fish sauce
• 1/2 cup (120 mL) heavy cream

Direction

1. In a large container, sprinkle gelatin over the broth and set aside.
2. In a large Dutch oven, melt butter over medium-high heat until bubbly. Add carrots, celery, and onion and cook, stirring, until about 6 minutes. Add half (2 pounds) of ground meat and cook, stirring occasionally and dividing into large chunks until nicely browned in the bottom of the pan, about 15 minutes.
3. Add the remaining 2 pounds of meat to cook, stir well and scrape the bottom of the pan and break the meat into small pieces, until the meat is cooked evenly, about 6 minutes; Lower the heat all the time to avoid burns. Add ketchup and cook, stirring for 2 minutes. Stir in the wine, scrape the bottom of the pan and bring to a boil, then cook until the raw alcohol smell is gone, about 5 minutes. Add bay leaves.
4. Add the reserved broth, scrape out the hydrated gelatin, put in the Dutch oven and bring to a boil; Lower the temperature to maintain a very gentle boil. Season with salt and add a little nutmeg and fish sauce. Continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened and there is almost no excess liquid left, about 3 hours. Skim and remove surface fat as well as bay leaves. Stir in cream and season with salt.
5. Use immediately, refrigerate up to 5 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

This Recipe Appears In

• Between the Sheets: How to Make Classic Italian Lasagna Bolognese

How to Make Classic Italian Lasagna Bolognese

How to Make Classic Italian Lasagna Bolognese

Nys Aqyla    9/05/2022   

 Everything you need to know to make the classic Italian bolognese lasagna, the famous toast with alternating layers of deep and meaty ragù bolognese, creamy bechamel sauce and delicate pieces of fresh noodles.

 

In the US, when most people say they're going to make lasagna, they almost always mean the dish is toasted with wide noodles with thick layers of ricotta, mozzarella, and tomato or meat sauces. . But this limited use of the term doesn't begin to capture the vast possibilities of lasagna as it is made in Italy, and in particular, the queen of all lasagna: lasagna bolognese.

What is Lasagna Bolognese?

The word lasagna itself, technically just refers to the noodles - wide, flat and rectangular - which is why Italians almost always use the plural, lasagna. Lasagna is also one of the oldest forms of pasta, which makes sense considering it's actually the starting point for so many other pastas: you have to make the lasagna before you can cut a thing. something like fettuccine or pappardelle in them. Considering their age, there are probably 50 lasagna recipes for every square inch of Italian soil,* and not all of them are layered and baked.

Don't quote me on that.

In Liguria, for example, lasagna is rolled to an almost transparent level when cooked, then drizzled with pesto. Sure, they call it mandilli de saea (or fazzoletti di seta), a reference to the silk handkerchiefs that the noodles look like, but they're lasagna anyway.

Meanwhile, in Naples, you can find lasagna alla napoletana, a wonderful grilled version stuffed with every delicacy you can imagine. However, the one I crave the most is lasagna alla Bolognese, which originated in Emilia-Romagna in north-central Italy. It's a simple basic recipe, with just a few key ingredients: pasta; meat sauce, called ragù Bolognese; besciamella (also called Béchamel or white sauce); and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

Despite its hearty setting, the real beauty of Lasagna Bolognese is its sophistication. The layers aren't overdone, making sure the pasta (and your mouth) isn't swept away by the richness of the filling.

No ricotta in it, no mozzarella, no spinach leaves, mushrooms, or other heavy additions commonly found in other lasagna recipes.

Instead, the silky texture is the result of delicate layers of fresh noodles and long-cooked gelatin-coated ragù, all skillfully bonded by a layer of besciamella cream. And the flavor, while strong and meaty, has a hint of sweetness, a gift from all the carb- and dairy-rich ingredients (plus the judicious use of nutmeg). It's as close to perfection as any baking powder I've ever eaten, and while you're free to stuff it with additional ingredients if you want, try it at least in its most basic form first, because I really think it doesn't. don't want anything.

To make it work, you have to think about every ingredient – ​​like many of the best Italian dishes, Lasagna Bolognese is relatively simple, which means poor technique and confusing shortcuts that have very little to do. hide.

Look at the ingredients: Pasta

 

Many experts, including Italian food agency Marcella Hazan, tell you that if you're not ready to make your own fresh lasagna from scratch, you shouldn't worry about preparing the dish. I don't agree with that. While fresh homemade lasagna, rolled from egg-enriched dough, can make the top of the dish, it's not a requirement. (In fact, Kenji even calls for unboiled dry lasagna noodles in his lasagna recipe.)

First of all, you can now buy fresh (or frozen) lasagna noodles in abundance at many supermarkets, delivering undeniably delicious results. And, to be honest, while it doesn't look like it, even dry pasta can work well - the pasta in lasagna should be overcooked anyway, so you can Stab it with a fork without too much resistance, and the dry pasta lends this variety almost overcooked as well as fresh. If you're ready to make pasta from scratch, you should start by reading Niki's in-depth test of fresh pasta dough, in which she dialed in the sweet spot (as long as it can last. at) for a flour-based dough. and eggs. You can follow her regular pasta recipe or her spinach-enriched recipe. Technically, spinach pasta is the more traditional choice for a lasagna bolognese, but I don't see that as more of a claim than a homemade pasta dish.

One of the benefits of making your own pasta is that you can control how thin the paper is. With lasagna bolognese, the thinner the better, at least to a point. I recommend rolling the sheets to about 6 or 7 on your pasta machine - thin enough that the layers of pasta aren't unnecessarily bulky, but also not so thin that Ligurian silk handkerchiefs. Once they're unrolled, cut the long sheets of paper into rectangles of a more manageable length of about 8 inches.

To make pasta, I cook it in boiling salted water until cooked through, with only a slight resiliency when you chew it (it gets softer in the oven). Then I let the noodles cool in a bowl of ice water, drained, and lightly rubbed with oil so the noodles wouldn't stick. If you plan to store cooked noodles for a while, I recommend placing the oiled sheets on a parchment-lined baking tray with several layers of plastic wrap between them again, to prevent them from sticking together. .

Appearance Ingredients: Bolognese Ragù

 

 Next up is ragù bolognese, and we at Serious Eats have helped you perform on that front in many ways. Bolognese is a meat sauce usually made with beef, and sometimes pork and/or veal; Lamb is not an unheard of addition.

While there are probably as many recipes for Bolognese sauce as lasagna, it always starts with soffritto, a sautéed blend of herbs like onions, carrots, and celery. While alive, the Italians called this mixture of chopped vegetables abeatto, which means "beating," and hardened back to the days when they ground all the aromatics into a coarse mixture with a mortar and pestle. For this reason, I tend to opt for the pre-cut, hand-made biscuits (because I'm a bit grainy), but it can be easily done much quicker in a food processor. I love how the finer ground meat almost disappears between the pieces in the sauce.

In addition to soffritto and meat, Bolognese usually contains small amounts of tomatoes, either in a mashed or paste form, but not enough to form a complete tomato sauce, as well as wine (red or white, but still dry... and don't worry too much about the quality), plus a touch of warm spice like nutmeg and a good bit of milk or cream, for a smooth, luxurious finish.

 

You can choose from many different recipes for this. First, there's the slow-cooked version of Kenji, made to look like the real thing. Among the newest elements in his recipe are pancetta, lamb liver and chicken for added richness and depth; It also cooks the sauce in the oven rather than on the stove, which takes longer but delivers a darker flavor and softer texture, thanks to a combination of mild heat and topping.

Kenji also posted a Bolognese Pressure Cooker recipe, which is a great time saver without sacrificing much in terms of quality. If you have a pressure cooker, this is definitely something to consider. I also wrote my own bolognese recipe, just for this lasagna. It's a bit simpler than Kenji's, both a bit easier and to achieve the specific flavor I was looking for - bringing out those sweet milky notes and toning down some of the pancetta, livery intensity. chicken and lamb. My recipe isn't a quick and easy recipe by any means, though if you make it on the stove it takes three, maybe four hours. You can also bake according to Kenji's method, which will provide subtle flavor and texture improvements, but will likely take an hour or two longer.

It takes a while, but the sauce solidifies well, making it an ingredient you can make to your liking, then defrost whenever you want to make your lasagna (or serve with pasta). fresh tagliatelle).

There are several important steps in all of our ragù recipes. The first is to add unflavored gelatin to the chicken broth before adding it to the pot, especially if you're using a store-bought broth, which doesn't have the gelatin that good homemade broth always has. Gelatin is important because it provides a rich, enveloping viscosity that best separates sauces from all soft, watery sauces. Incidentally, using ground veal in bolognese also increases the gelatin factor.

An alternative is to brown only part of the mince, or start with the meat in large chunks to brown, then grind later. That's because browning offers great flavor development, but sacrifices texture by over-drying the browned parts - browning requires drying, so there's no good way to solve this problem. By browning only part of the meat, we get that wonderful grilled flavor, but we reserve a softer texture in the rest of the undercooked meat. It is a win-win outcome and good for all.

Appearance Ingredients: Besciamella (large white dope)

 

Aside from grated parmesan, besciamella is the most basic of all lasagna bolognese ingredients, but its importance should not be underestimated. It's the delicious creamy sauce that ties it all together, helping to combine meat sauces with silky-smooth pasta sheets while underscoring the dish's rich, milky flavors and highlighting the spice of nutmeg. that warmth (found in both ragù and besciamella).

The trick to getting it right is to create a version with the correct flour-to-milk ratio, which in this case means less flour for a thinner white sauce. This is because the lasagna will thicken as the lasagna cooks, so if you start with a thicker sauce, it will become mushy when the lasagna comes out of the oven. I use a ratio of just over a tablespoon of flour per cup of milk. The artificial part will melt easily in layers, but will achieve the perfect, slow-flowing consistency after baking.

Also, this method is classic. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the flour to form a thick paste, then cook until the raw smell of the dough is gone, but not to the point of starting to brown. Then, slowly pour in the milk in a drip, whisking well to avoid lumps and to make sure the sauce is really smooth and silky.

One thing to watch out for: Besciamella has a tendency to rapidly develop thickened skin on top when sitting; you can avoid this by pressing plastic wrap to the surface. Then keep warm until you're ready to use.

How to make Lasagna Bolognese

Once all the ingredients are prepared, all that remains is to assemble and cook the lasagna.

 

      

    Layers of Lasagna Bolognese

Step 1: Butter the baked goods, then start layering the ragu and pasta

 

Start by baking a baking dish (nine by 13 inches works well for my recipe), then lay out a thin layer of ragù, just to serve as the base for the first layer of pasta. Now cover the ragù with sheets of pasta; some overlap is fine, but you can trim the pasta if needed to avoid too much duplication.

Step 2: Layer with ragu, pasta, toast and cheese

Then add another thin layer of ragù, followed by besciamella fillet and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese.

Step 3: Repeat until the baking dish is full

Repeat this sequence of layers until the baking dish is full; it's about six layers in total for me.

Sauce Tips:

The most important thing is not to let the meat sauce get too thick, however you may be tempted. Each individual layer should be thin, as it will increase as each layer is stacked on top of the last; If you do it right, the pasta dish will have the same sauce as an undercooked pasta dish (i.e. not too much sauce). Too much sauce will only overwhelm the noodles and reduce the structural integrity of the layers after cutting and plating the lasagna. (Anyone who really wants the sauce can just ignore all that and eat it from the bowl with a spoon. There's no shame in that.)

Step 4: Finish with Besciamella and cheese

 

Once you've reached the top of the pasta, spread the rest of the toast on top, without further stewing, then drizzle the final amount of grated cheese over it.

Step 5: Cook lasagna

 

Whole dish can be baked in a 375°F oven until bubbly and golden on top, about 35 minutes. Then let it sit for at least 10 minutes, so it can harden slightly and hold together better after you cut.

It may not reach dizzying heights or overflow with thick layers of cheese, but it more than holds its place in the lasagna gallery – I mean, who could argue that there are more ways to do it. keep interesting things between sheets of paper?

 

Get recipes:

• Classic Grilled Lasagna Bolognese Recipe (Lasagna alla bolognese)
  
• Basic Bolognese Ragù