notbob wrote:

> We've been discussing lasagna and Tammy mentioned classic Bolognese
> sauce. It's been long enough that I don't recall the last time it was
> brought up. What do you think makes a great Bolognese sauce. I read
> a pretty good sounding one in Saveur magazine using pork, beef, and
> lamb, cooked so long and slow even TX brisket Q'rs packed up and went
> home. Got any good recipes?

It's a meat based sauce where the main part is beef (cartella is the
bolognese name for the exact cut, from near the diaphragm), lean pork and
mortadella.
Dairy can be omitted but the traditional bolognese style includes or milk or
the cream emerged from the milk overnight.
Tomato can be under the form of sauce, under 10% the total volume, or
concentrate, in the latter case the amount is ridiculous. It's almost as if
the tomato gets added only to give colour.
The starter of the ragu' is a low temp sautee of finely minced celery, onion
and carrot. Nowadays it is usually made with EVO oil but, probably, it was
made with butter until some decades ago. When the veggies are transparent
one raises the heat to medium, puts in the pot all the ground meats and the
mortadella and mix them well with the veggies, and now add some white wine
which will soon evaporate during this mixing phase on medium heat. After
this it's time to add the tomato and, if the mix is not enough wet, milk or
water or cream. These liquids are expecially needed if one's using
concentrated tomato instead of sauce. Here one reduces the heat to very low
and starts the long and low simmering, with a someway displaced lid so to
have an uncomplete cover, and when the ragu' tends to dry up one just adds
more water or milk. Cream gets added only once, even cream users go on with
milk after starting the simmmering. The simmering can last a whole morning
starting very early and until lunchtime, say from 7AM to 1PM, and then the
ragu' goes straigth on tagliatelle (remember, "spaghetti bolognese" are not
italian nor bolognese: bolognese sauce goes with "tagliatelle alla
bolognese", not spaghetti which are from southern Italy).
Obviously if one is going to make lasagne it's better to make the ragu' the
day before, so that one can arrange the lasagne in the morning before lunch,
or even the day before baking them: they improve if they wait overnight.
Spices and herbs are quiet limited here, the most one can traditionally find
is ground white or black pepper, nutmeg and bay leaf. Sure there's people
adding more spices, but that's going a bit off the original. I myself don't
use nutmeg nor bay leaf in this ragu', just ground white pepper.
Sure I'll have forgot something, but these are guidelines fully following
the classic bolognese sauce, or "ragu' alla bolognese".
--
Vilco
Mai guardare Trailer park Boys senza
qualcosa da bere a portata di mano