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Friday, 12 March 2010 16:11

Tagliatelle al Ragù Bolognese "alla Bolognese"

MAKES 4-6 servings

For the Bolognese sauce
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 2 small carrots chopped 1 celery stalk, chopped
- 1 yellow onion, chopped
- 2 oz (60 g) thick-cut pancetta, chopped
- 1/2 Ib (250 g) ground (minced) pork
- 1/2 Ib (250 g) ground (minced) beef chuck
- 1/2 cup (4 fl oz/125 ml) dry red wine such as Barbera
- 1 cup (6 oz/185 g) drained, chopped canned plum (Roma) tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon tornato paste
- 2 cups (16 fl oz/500 ml) beef stock, plus more as needed
- 1 cup (8 fl oz/250 ml) whole milk
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1 Ib fresh egg pasta dough
- Grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese for serving

Bolognese sauce owes its rich, deep flavor to long, slow cooking and to starting with a soffritto, the mixture of carrot, onion, celery, and, in this case, pancetta, that forms the base of the sauce. The finished sauce should be delicate and creamy (helped, in part, by the addition of dairy, a signature of recipes from Bologna) and cling nicely to the pasta strands when tossed. This sauce is classically served with fresh tagliatelle or fettuccine, but dried pasta can be substituted. Make a double batch of sauce and you will have enough to make the lasagne.

To make the Bolognese sauce, in a Dutch oven or other large, heavy pot over medium-low heat, melt the butter. Add the carrots, celery, onion, and pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until the ingredients are tender and a rich golden brown, about 30 minutes. If the ingredients begin to brown too much, reduce the heat and stir in a spoonful or two of warm water.

Add the ground meats to the pot and stir well. Raise the heat to medium and cook, breaking up the meats with a wooden spoon, until lightly browned and crumbly and their juices have evaporated, about 20 minutes.
Add the wine and deglaze the pot, scraping up the browned bits from the pot bottom. Cook until the wine evaporates, about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, the tomato paste, the 2 cups stock, the milk, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and the nutmeg. Cook the mixture until it just begins to simmer, then reduce the heat to very low and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for about 1 hour. If the sauce becomes too thick or threatens to scorch, add a little more stock.

Partially cover the pot and continue cooking the sauce on the lowest heat setting until it is thick and dark brown, 1-11/2 hours longer. When the sauce is ready, use a large spoon to skim off and discard any fat that floats on the surface. Cover the pan and set aside.
While the sauce is simmering, make the pasta dough, then divide and roll out each piece into a sheet 1/16 inch (2 mm). Following the directions for cutting pasta strands, cut the pasta sheets into tagliatelle (the widest setting) and let dry for 10-20 minutes.
Bring a large pot three-fourths full of water to a rolling boil and add about 2 tablespoons salt. Add the tagliatelle, stir well, and cook, stirring occasionally, until al dente, 1/2 - 2 minutes.

While the pasta is cooking, reheat the sauce over medium-low heat. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt, pepper, and/or nutmeg.
When the tagliatelle is ready, scoop out and reserve about 2 ladlefuls of the cooking water, then drain the pasta. Add the drained pasta to the sauce in the pot and stir and toss until well coated with the sauce, adjusting the consistency with some of the cooking water if needed. Transfer to a warmed serving bowl and serve at once. Pass the cheese at the table.

Buon appetito !

Published in Meat main dishes

The Emilia Romagna Region - Capital: Bologna

Class Gastronomy

The region made up of Emilia, which spreads across the Po River valley to the west, and Romagna, which extends eastward to the Adriatic coast, is among Italy's most famous gastronomic centers. This is the home of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, aged balsamic vinegar, and sweet prosciutto di Parma. The rich, sophisticated cuisine of the capital, Bologna, has given the city the nickname la grassa, "the fat one." Pork, veal, milk, cream, butter, and cheese are the hallmarks of the region's cooking, along with fresh eggand-flour pasta, hand-rolled with a long pin and cut into tagliatelle (the loca) name for fettuccine), layered in sheets as lasagne, or stuffed and folded to make tortellini. Cured meats and sausages are the pride of Emilia-Romagna, from salami and coppa to the famed mortadella of Bologna, from which boloney gets its name, and the stars of many antipasti platters. Along the Adriatic coast, fish and shellfish are featured in brodetto, the richly flavored loca) seafood stew, or simply grilled with olive oil and herbs. Among the EmiliaRomagna's best-known wines is Lambrusco, a young, delicately effervescent red made in the frizzante style, which goes well with the salumi and other rich, hearty foods of the region.

Parmigiano-Reggiano

Parmigiano-Reggiano starts with milk from grass-fed cows, which is heated in copper vats with natural whey and rennet to coagulate the curds. The whey from this process was traditionally fed to pigs raised to make prosciutto di Parma, adding to the famed ham's distinctive flavor. Formed into giant wheels, the cheese is aged for twelve to thirty-six months. Look for the words Parmigiano-Reggiano stenciled on the rind. The cheese is ideai for grating and is excellent served in chunks as part of a cheese course.

Balsamic Vinegar

A world-renowned specialty of Modena, dark, sweet balsamic vinegar varies in quality and price. True aceto balsamico tradizionale di modena is something else altogether. Thick, syrupy, and complex, it is aged in successively smaller barrels made from a variety of woods as it evaporates and thickens in open-air lofts. It must be at least twelve years old, and is often aged for twenty-five years or more. In Emilia-Romagna, it is used sparingly as a table condiment to anoint everything from meats, fish, and salad greens to chunks of Parmigiano-Reggiano and strawberries.

Regional Specialties

Mortadella large sausages, often weighing thirty pounds (15 kg) or more, made from puréed pork, studded with bits of pork fat

Prosciutto di parma world-famous air-cured ham of Parma

Culatello among the most prized of all salumi, delicate, pink culatello is made by salting and air curing a tender section of the pig's hind leg Piadina a griddled flatbread that is folded over prosciutto or other fillings

Gnocco fritto fried dough puff served as an antipasto, often with sliced salumi

Tagliaiene alla bolognese me segnature pasta of the region paired with its famous meat and tomato sauce, which is often enriched with milk or cream

Tortellini stuffed pasta generally eaten in brodo (in broth) or al burro (with butter and Parmesan)

Zampone and cotechino a specialty of Modena, zampone is a pig's trotter stuffed with ground pork and traditionally eaten with lentils on New Year's Eve; the same filling is also made into cotechino, a sausage

Grana padano a hard grating cheese similar to Parmigiano-Reggiano

Photo: Wedges of Parmigiano-Reggiano and bottles of syrupy, aged balsamic vinegar, both famous products of the Emilia-Romagna region, are now common in kitchens around the world.

Published in Emilia Romagna

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