Ragu Bolognese:
(Meat sauce from
the city of Bologna) This ragu typically accompanies fresh home-made pasta,
like tagliolini, tagliatelle or pappardelle.
Ingredients: for 4 persons
Minced raw ham
8 ounces
Italian tomatoes (canned)
without the extra juice
from the can 9 ounces
Lean beef
8 ounces
Dried mushrooms
1/2 ounce
Extra-virgin olive oil 2 table spoons
Onion
˝
Carrot
˝
Celery rib
˝
Minced garlic
a pinch
Red wine
3 ounces
Minced parsley (dried) 1 teaspoon
Nutmeg
a pinch
Broth
6 ounces
Minced sweet marjoram (dried) 1 teaspoon
Salt and pepper to taste
How to do it:
Soak the mushrooms in some lukewarm water.
Pass the tomato pulp through a food mill.
Clean the half carrot, the celery rib and the half onion and mince them thinly.
Warm the olive oil in a saucepan, add the minced ham and sauté it for a couple
of minutes.
Add the previously minced vegetables and the garlic.
Quickly sauté to wither the mushrooms which were previously well dried and
minced to bring out their flavor.
Add the beef and sauté it to a golden-brown.
Add the tomato sauce, the pinch of nutmeg, the minced parsley, the sweet
marjoram and the broth and season to taste with salt and pepper.
Cook the ragu in a medium sauce-pan with the lid on over a medium flame for at
least one hour.
Add broth as necessary to prevent drying and burning.
Serve over freshly boiled hot pasta.
