📋Authentic Italian Bolognese Sauce Recipe

Authentic Bolognese sauce, also known as "ragù alla Bolognese," is a meaty sauce that has been simmered for hours, allowing the flavors to meld together perfectly. Hailing from the northern Italian city of Bologna, this slow-cooked sauce is a classic accompaniment to egg pasta, and the official recipe has been registered with the Bologna Chamber of Commerce and the Accademia Italiana della Cucina.

Course Pasta

Cuisine Italian

Keyword Bolognese sauce, Meat ragu, ragu

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 30

Total Time 35

Servings people

Calories 459kcal

Author Laura Tobin

Equipment

Ingredients

2 tablespoon Olive oil
½ cup bacon
1 onion diced
1 large carrot diced
1 celery stalk diced
1 lb lean minced beef and pork
½ cup White wine
1 lb homemade tomato sauce
1 cup stock
1 cup milk
black pepper

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Stir fry the bacon with the olive oil
Add the diced onion, carrot and celery to make a soffritto
2 tablespoon Olive oil, 1 onion diced, 1 large carrot diced, 1 celery stalk diced, 1 lb lean minced beef and pork, ½ cup bacon
Add the ground beef and the pork
Stir the meat until it is all brown
Add a glass of white wine and let it evaporate
½ cup White wine
Add the tomato sauce and stock and stir
1 cup stock, 1 lb homemade tomato sauce, 1 cup milk
Simmer for 3 hours adding stock if needed
If you use the pressure cooker cook for only 35 minutes
Add the milk at the end and stir
Serve with fresh tagliatelle or make a lasagna
black pepper

Video

Notes

The recipe in this article is a quick and simple version of the Bolognese sauce, which technically should be called ragu. Although in the ingredients list I indicate the variation needed to make a traditional Bolognese.
Marsala is an old sweet wine often used in Italian cooking. Even if you are cooking for children it is not as dangerous as the alcohol evaporates completely. It leaves a sweet taste to contrast the acidity of the tomatoes sauce. It is an optional ingredient, but I highly recommend it
If you don't have a pressure cooker, simmer the sauce for 2 hours.
You can make a large batch and freeze it.
You can make a ragu with many different cuts of meat: lamb, pork, beef. Shanks are the best cuts to use as cartilages melt in a nice creamy sauce when cooked for a long time.
You can serve it with pasta, rice or with homemade gnocchi.
Besides lasagna, you can use this Bolognese sauce as a filling of eggplant parmesan, arancini, timbale, baked pasta or in the Italian potato pie Gateau.

Nutrition