Spaghetti alla Bolognese

[fitfool]

I've mentioned in previous posts that Michael loved Marcella Hazan's recipes. Here's a recipe from her cookbook The Classic Italian Cookbook that we cooked together in February. We mostly followed her recipe just so but we left out nutmeg (didn't have any) and we only simmered for 1.5-2 hours before serving (we were hungry) this over spaghetti. Delicious! I usually opt for the quick meat sauce that can be made in 15 minutes but Michael wanted to try something different and assured me that this was worth the wait (he had made it in the past). Sure enough, this gave us a richer sauce with a hint of sweetness from the carrots.

Spaghetti alla Bolognese

"Ragù is not to be confused with ragoût. A ragoût is a French meat stew, while ragù is Bologna's meat sauce for seasoning its homemade pasta. The only thing they share is a common and justified origin in the verb ragoûter, which means "to excite the appetite."

There are three essential points you must remember to make a successful ragù:

• The meat must be sautéed just barely long enough to lose its raw color. It must not brown or it will lose delicacy.
  
• It must be cooked in milk before the tomatoes are added. This keeps the meat creamier and sweeter tasting.
  
• It must cook at the merest simmer for a long, long time. The minimum is 3.5 hours; 5 is better
  

The union of tagliatelle and ragù is a marriage made in heaven, but ragù is also very good with tortellini, it is indispensable in lasagne, and it is excellent with such macaroni as rigatoni, ziti, conchiglie, and rotelle. Whenever a menu lists pasts alla bolognese, that means it is served with ragù.

For 6 servings, or 2.25 to 2.5 cups

2 Tbsp chopped yellow onion
3 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp chopped celery
2 Tbsp chopped carrot
3/4 lb ground lean beef, preferably chuck
salt
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup milk
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg [omitted]
2 cups canned Italian tomatoes, roughly chopped, with their juices

1. An earthenware pot should be your first choice for making ragù. If you don't have one available, use a heavy, enameled cast-iron casserole, the deepest one you have (to keep the ragù from reducing too quickly). Put in the chopped onion, with all the oil and butter, and sauté briefly over medium heat until just translucent. Add the celery and carrot and cook gently for 2 minutes.
   
2. Add the ground beef, crumbling it in the pot with a fork. Add 1 teaspoon salt, stir, and cook only until the meat has lost its raw, red color.
   
3. Add the wine, turn the heat up to medium high, and cook, stirring occasionally, until all the wine has evaporated.
   
4. Turn the heat down to medium, add the milk and the nutmeg, and cook until the milk has evaporated. Stir frequently.
   
5. When the milk has evaporated, add the tomatoes and stir thoroughly. When the tomatoes have started to bubble, turn the heat down until the sauce cooks at the laziest simmer, just an occasional bubble. Cook, uncovered, for a minimum of 3.5 to 4 hours, stirring occasionally. Taste and correct for salt. (If you cannot watch the sauce for such a long stretch, you can turn off the heat and resume cooking it later on. But do fnish cooking it in one day.)
   

Note: Ragù can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, or frozen. Reheat until it simmers for about 15 minutes before using."

Thread at cooking