Ultimate Ragù Bolognese

As legions of nonnas have counseled and writers have written, the key to a sumptuous ragù Bolognese is giving it plenty of time. Our recipe takes about 4 ½ hours to cook— and that’s once you have everything prepped.

Another essential element is the way the onion, carrot and celery are cut for the soffritto: Ideally, they should be finely chopped or very finely diced, as small as what the French call brunoise — cubes of about ⅛ inch. That way those aromatic vegetables will melt beautifully, with long, slow cooking, into the ragù. 

Equally important are the ground beef and pork, which should be the best quality you can get. I like to use grass-fed beef that’s 20% fat. Ground heritage pork is a bonus; I sometimes find ground Kurobuta (Berkshire) pork at my nearby Asian supermarket or other chopped heritage pork at my local Eataly. What truly great Bolognese ragùs have in common is that the meats are browned together very slowly, so be sure you take time — an hour, or nearly — with this step. It’s helpful to have a pot that’s wide enough so you have plenty of surface area for the slow browning.

This recipe calls for purchased chicken broth; if you happen to have home-made beef broth, that’s even better.

[What kind of pasta to serve with ragù Bolognese? Fresh egg tagliatelle is classic, and most Emilia-Romagnans wouldn’t have it any other way. But you have my friend Carlo-Maria Ciampolli’s permission to put it on spaghetti. Read our story.]

[Related recipe: Fresh Egg Pasta (made using a pasta machine)]

If you’re using the ragù to dress tagliatelle or other pasta, when your ragù is finished and you’re ready to serve, transfer the amount of ragù you’ll be using into a large sauté pan, keeping it warm while the pasta cooks. When the pasta is nearly done, spoon a little of the pasta cooking water into the ragù and stir it in, then use tongs to transfer the tagliatelle into the ragù, toss gently in the sauce and cook for another minute before serving.

Serves 8 to 12 (makes about 6 cups of sauce).

Ingredients

4 ounces pancetta, cut into ½-inch cubes

3 fat garlic cloves, peeled

6 tablespoons unsalted butter (divided)