tagliatelle alla Bolognese

"The weather outside is frightful" which means the food inside is delightful...cold, rainy, dreary days makes me want warm comfort food...some of Italian cooking is comforting, a rich, succulent spaghetti sauce is like that...cooked slowly and for a length of time to allow the flavours to meld together...the aroma of garlic and basil simmering in the sauce...then poured over some hot, fresh pasta...I could have this sauce with or without meat, it's all about how delicious the sauce is, meat is an added bonus...for a Bolognese sauce, it's all about the meat - ground beef, pork and veal...this sauce, simmered slowly for a length of time in wine and stock, seems to showcase the meats in this dish...the end result is a sauce, deep in colour and rich in flavour.

The earliest documented recipe for a meat-based sauce (ragù) served with pasta comes from late 18th century Imola, near Bologna. Pellegrino Artusi published a recipe for a meat sauce characterized as being bolognese in his cookbook published in 1891. Artusi's recipe, which he called Maccheroni alla bolognese, is thought to derive from the mid 19th century when he spent considerable time in Bologna (maccheroni being a generic term for pasta, both dried and fresh). The recipe only partially resembles the ragù alla bolognese that is traditionally associated with tagliatelle. The sauce called for predominantly lean veal filet along with pancetta, butter, onion, and carrot. The meats and vegetables were to be finely minced, cooked with butter until the meats browned, then covered and cooked with broth. Artusi commented that the taste could be made even more pleasant by adding small pieces of dried mushroom, a few slices of truffle, or chicken liver cooked with the meat and diced. As a final touch, he also suggested adding half a glass of cream to the sauce when it was completely done to make it taste even smoother. Artusi recommended serving this sauce with a medium size pasta ("horse teeth") made from durum wheat. The pasta was to be made fresh, cooked until it was firm, and then flavored with the sauce and Parmigiano cheese.

In 1982, the Italian Academy of Cuisine (Accademia Italiana della Cucina), an organization dedicated to preserving the culinary heritage of Italy, recorded and deposited a recipe for "classic Bolognese ragù" with the Bologna Chamber of Commerce (La Camera di Commercio di Bologna). A version of the academy's recipe for American kitchens was also published. The academy's recipe confines the ingredients to beef cut from the plate section (cartella di manzo), fresh unsmoked pancetta (pancetta di maiale distesa), onions, carrot, celery, passata (or tomato purée), meat broth, dry wine (red or white, not sparkling), milk, salt and pepper. The option of adding a small amount of cream at the end of the preparation is recommended.

Ragù alla bolognese is a complex sauce which lends itself well to interpretation and adaptation by professional chefs and home cooks alike. Common sources of differences include which meats to use (beef, pork or veal) and their relative quantities, the possible inclusion of either cured meats or offal, which fats are used in the sauté phases (rendered pork fat, butter, olive or vegetable oil), what form of tomato is employed (fresh, canned or paste), the makeup of the cooking liquids (wine, milk, tomato juices, or broth) and their specific sequence of addition.

The many variations tend to be based on a common theme. For instance, garlic is absent from all of the recipes referenced above, as are herbs other than a parsimonious use of bay leaves by some. Seasoning is limited to salt, pepper and the occasional pinch of nutmeg. In all of the recipes meats dominate as the principal ingredient, while tomatoes, in one form or another, are only an auxiliary ingredient.

I'm using the recipe from Eataly and following the recipe, for the most part, which is a first for me...however, the recipe calls for white wine, I'll use red as I prefer red wine for this sauce.

I've seasoned the meat (anyone using Himalayan salt?) and added the wine and tomato pasta, simmer for 20 minutes to allow the sauce to reduce...once cooked down, add the stock and simmer for 45 minutes...as Bolognese sauce is traditionally served over tagliatelle pasta, parpadelli, spaghetti or penne will work with this sauce...I'm using parpadelli as well as spaghetti...please try this very comforting sauce and tell me how you did...Bon appetito!