Fatima’s Ragù alla Bolognese : make bolognese sauce the real way.

Vegans this one is not for you !

My friend Fatima Carrion insisted I post this recipe after tasting my ragù alla bolognese .

The story is that I had to cook for some men recently and my sister told me….no weird stuff, no green chi chi stuff, no vegetable stuff….cook something manly for active Spanish men with huge appetites.

That was a major challenge because I mainly eat the above : green stuff and grains.  I  also wanted to cook pork belly but then I thought that it might be too rich and we would end up eating too much and ruining our early morning start the next day so I racked my brain for a recipe and bingo !  I thought of making a dish which we never seem to make or eat anymore when entertaining  because quinoa and kale seem to have replaced many meat dishes .

So what about pappardelle alla bolognese as main course ?

This is my recipe, actually no , this recipe was copyrighted at the Bologna chamber of commerce in 1982 , so it is the official recipe for Sugo Alla Bolognese , or bolognese meat sauce. The actual recipe calls for lean ground meat i.e. horse meat or veal . Of course I would not cook with horse meat so I used young bull meat because at the Algeciras market where I shop they have a butcher selling only bull’s meat….the actual black bulls they use in bullfights : toros de lidia.

The meat was very dark red, lean and delicious. You can use any type of lean veal otherwise. The trick is not to have too much fat in your meat because you are cooking with bacon .  Also make sure that your bacon is from a butcher and not one of those horrid greasy watery packs that you find in bad supermarkets.

For 8 people :

1 big carrot

1 big celery

1 big onion

800 grams of ground LEAN meat

200 grams of bacon or sausage cut in very very small cubes  . (This is a pain in the ass to do so ask your butcher to do it for you)

Concentrated tomato sauce ……..1 tube  or small can

1 glass of red wine

1 glass of meat or chicken consomé

1 glass of whole milk

Olive oil

Salt , ground pepper

Chop very finely the carrot, celery and onion

In a deep heavy casserole sautée the onion  in oil  for a few minutes till tender

Then add the celery

Then the carrot

Important that you keep this order so that you keep the aroma of the celery and carrot over the aroma of the onion !

Cook for 10/ 15  mins covered  until all 3 vegetables are soft

Then add the bacon or sausage and cook some more….make sure bacon or sausage is in very small pieces

Cook for 10/15  minutes and then add the ground meat   and cook for 10/15 minutes until is is very well seared , that is important.

Put in the glass of red wine , mix well and let It evaporate

Add the tube of concentrated tomato sauce

Add the chicken or meat consomé

Stir very well and leave on fire at LOW heat for 1 and 1/2 hours

Add 1 glass of whole milk

Cook for another 1/2 hour

Slow cooking   : total 2 hours, no cheating

add fresh ground pepper , a lot , and then taste and see if you need a bit of salt . The bacon should add some salt to it so do not overdo it.

For the pappardelle ( or macaroni )  just use 100 grams per person and cook all dente

keep a  glass of the hot cooking water in the end in case you need to add it to the finished mixed dish before you serve it

Enjoy !    Oh and ps under this ragù shot I have included a photo of my butcher’s meat still- life of the week……amazing culinary art !    he is the one that did the Lady Gaga dress out of jamón that I posted here.