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Easy peasy :   ★
★
★    
Economic :   ★
★
☆    
Can freeze :   ★
★
★    
4 ServingsPreparation time approx 10 minutesCooking time approx 75 minutes
| Summary
In this recipe I will show you how to make an exquisite traditional style ragù sauce.
A processed cook-in bolognese sauce out of a jar is hard to beat when it comes to a convenient "spagbol", but making your own ragù isn’t difficult and the results are more
than enough reward for the little extra effort. I like to serve mine with tagliatelle, which I think is more manageable than spaghetti, but other pasta shapes can be used and
young children especially, tend to make less mess if served with fusilli. I use the same recipe for the ragù I use in my (meat) lasagnes. The ragù is also perfect
for freezing which makes it ideal if you are cooking for low numbers as you can keep a batch in your freezer and, when needed in future, you will just need to heat through until piping
hot, and boil some pasta to accompany it.  
Click to watch video |
SummaryIn this recipe I will show you how to make an exquisite traditional style ragù sauce.
A processed cook-in bolognese sauce out of a jar is hard to beat when it comes to a convenient "spagbol", but making your own ragù isn’t difficult and the results are more
than enough reward for the little extra effort. I like to serve mine with tagliatelle, which I think is more manageable than spaghetti, but other pasta shapes can be used and
young children especially, tend to make less mess if served with fusilli. I use the same recipe for the ragù I use in my (meat) lasagnes. The ragù is also perfect
for freezing which makes it ideal if you are cooking for low numbers as you can keep a batch in your freezer and, when needed in future, you will just need to heat through until piping
hot, and boil some pasta to accompany it.  
Click to watch video
| *** THIS CELL DELIBERATELY LEFT BLANK *** |
  Ingredients- 500g Beef mince
- 2 x rashers Streaky Bacon
- 1 x Onion (medium)
- 1 x Carrot (medium)
- 1 x stick Celery
- 300ml Milk (semi skimmed)
- 200ml Red wine
- 3 x TBS Tomato puree
- 1 x Beef stock cube
- 1 x tsp Italian herbs
- 1 x Garlic clove
- 1 x Bay leaf
- Small knob of Butter
- Salt & Pepper to season
- Pasta as required
|   Method
Firstly some tips: (i) I prefer to use a wok for this dish as I find it easier when it comes to stirring the contents of the pan, but if you haven’t got a wok, make sure your
frying pan is large enough to comfortably hold all the ingredients. (ii) Keep your eye on the heat throughout the cooking and adjust as required: The pan will cool down when you
add large amounts of ingredients and the heat will need turning up again to bring back to a boil. Some elements, for example the onions will need a low heat for sweating, whereas the
beef mince will need a high heat in order to brown the meat. At other times only a very gentle simmer may be required. (iii) Streaky bacon is listed as an ingredient but it’s the
flavour of the pork fat that’s important, therefore the bacon can be substituted for say 125gm of pork mince if preferred. (A restauranteur in Rome told me his mother uses a pork sausage
in her ragù). (iv) Don’t go overboard with the quality of wine but if you wouldn’t drink it, then I suggest you wouldn’t want to ruin your food with it either.
Let's get started: - Finely chop the onions and finely chop the carrots. Cut the celery into 5cm lengths.
- Cut the bacon into
small pieces eg 1.5cm squares.
- Add a little rapeseed oil to the frying pan or wok, and bring up to a medium heat. Add a knob of butter.
- Add the garlic and
the chopped onions, and stir. Add the carrots and the bacon (or minced pork if you’re using minced pork), and stir. You want the pan to sweat just a little and release the flavours, so
turn the temperature down if the pan is sizzling too much – you don’t want to burn anything.
- When the onions are starting to look translucent, add the minced beef, and keep
stirring. The temperature of the pan will have dropped so you will need to turn it up; you will need a medium to high heat as you want to brown the meat, but if it takes too long to
colour you’ll end up drying it out. Season with salt, a good grind of black pepper, and the Italian herbs.
- When the meat is browned all over, pour in the red wine, crumble
the beef stock cube over the top, stir, and add the celery and the bay leaf. Bring everything to the boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Stir occasionally so that the bottom
doesn’t catch and burn.
- After 10 minutes the wine should have noticeably reduced. Add the milk until the contents of the pan are only just covered. Add the tomato puree.
Turn up the heat and stir, and as soon as the pan begins to boil turn the heat right down, stir, and let everything simmer again. At this point I like to leave on a very gentle simmer
for about an hour.
- Before serving, remove the chunks of celery and the bay leaf. Serve with your preferred pasta, and/or with garlic bread.
When it
comes to spaghetti, tagliatelle or fusilli, I use dried pasta which just needs to be put in boiling water, with a little salt, and left to boil for around 10 - 12 minutes. A good portion
of spaghetti, when clutched in the hand, is about the size of a pound coin. A portion of dried taglatelle is about 3 clusters and a portion of fusilli is about 2 - 3 handfuls. Click for
more about pasta.
|   Method
Firstly some tips: (i) I prefer to use a wok for this dish as I find it easier when it comes to stirring the contents of the pan, but if you haven’t got a wok, make sure your
frying pan is large enough to comfortably hold all the ingredients. (ii) Keep your eye on the heat throughout the cooking and adjust as required: The pan will cool down when you
add large amounts of ingredients and the heat will need turning up again to bring back to a boil. Some elements, for example the onions will need a low heat for sweating, whereas the
beef mince will need a high heat in order to brown the meat. At other times only a very gentle simmer may be required. (iii) Streaky bacon is listed as an ingredient but it’s the
flavour of the pork fat that’s important, therefore the bacon can be substituted for say 125gm of pork mince if preferred. (A restauranteur in Rome told me his mother uses a pork sausage
in her ragù). (iv) Don’t go overboard with the quality of wine but if you wouldn’t drink it, then I suggest you wouldn’t want to ruin your food with it either.
Let's get started: - Finely chop the onions and finely chop the carrots. Cut the celery into 5cm lengths.
- Cut the bacon into
small pieces eg 1.5cm squares.
- Add a little rapeseed oil to the frying pan or wok, and bring up to a medium heat. Add a knob of butter.
- Add the garlic and
the chopped onions, and stir. Add the carrots and the bacon (or minced pork if you’re using minced pork), and stir. You want the pan to sweat just a little and release the flavours, so
turn the temperature down if the pan is sizzling too much – you don’t want to burn anything.
- When the onions are starting to look translucent, add the minced beef, and keep
stirring. The temperature of the pan will have dropped so you will need to turn it up; you will need a medium to high heat as you want to brown the meat, but if it takes too long to
colour you’ll end up drying it out. Season with salt, a good grind of black pepper, and the Italian herbs.
- When the meat is browned all over, pour in the red wine, crumble
the beef stock cube over the top, stir, and add the celery and the bay leaf. Bring everything to the boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. Stir occasionally so that the bottom
doesn’t catch and burn.
- After 10 minutes the wine should have noticeably reduced. Add the milk until the contents of the pan are only just covered. Add the tomato puree.
Turn up the heat and stir, and as soon as the pan begins to boil turn the heat right down, stir, and let everything simmer again. At this point I like to leave on a very gentle simmer
for about an hour.
- Before serving, remove the chunks of celery and the bay leaf. Serve with your preferred pasta, and/or with garlic bread.
When it
comes to spaghetti, tagliatelle or fusilli, I use dried pasta which just needs to be put in boiling water, with a little salt, and left to boil for around 10 - 12 minutes. A good portion
of spaghetti, when clutched in the hand, is about the size of a pound coin. A portion of dried taglatelle is about 3 clusters and a portion of fusilli is about 2 - 3 handfuls. Click for
more about pasta. |
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