The road to the perfecto bolognaise !

This is a tough road I'm embarking on - one frought with legend, heresay and solid evidence.
But I need to travel that road of the cooking mind in my quest for "the perfect bolognaise", or, as it is traditionally known, ragu !

To start, it has to be clearly stated that there is no real 'bolognaise' perfect dish - it always has and always will be open to interpretation.

To all intents and purposes, the bolognaise is nothing more than a stew with some meat in it - a treat for the poor of Italy some centuries past and for many years, a treat for much of the rest of the western world. Explaining that bolognaise is indeed a paupers dish is a bit like managing to miss the whoopee cushion and landing a very tasty pie in the face.

If you can figure that one out, your doing better than I am.

But it's what you do with it that gets the taste buds going - not the pie or cushion - the dish itself is a marvel !

There's something very special about the bolognaise - the vegetables and herbs are so critical to the success that one often forgets the meat, which is indeed, probably a good thing !

So long as you've got some fleshy meat of any kind, you can make bolognaise.

The meat, while intrinsically important, is nothing more that the carrier of the flavour - the sauce !

The most important thing that bolognaise has is contained in the concept of that sauce.

So, to make a good bolognaise we need moisture, and the best moisture for cooking is wine !

The Basic Ragu - serves two
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1 large sprig rosemary - about a tablespoon when chopped loosley
2 tin of tomatoes or 3 fresh tomatoes chopped
3 1/2 an onion finely chopped
4 1/2 teaspoon fresh chopped garlic
5 salt and pepper to taste
6 some meat - if your hungry, about 600g for two, otherwise 500 to 300g depending on your diet.
7 Olive oil - if you like cooking, you must have and need olive oil in the house - use it at will !
8 Oreganum
9 half a big glass of red wine (190ml)
10 pinch of sugar per person eating.
11 fresh basil and thyme for decoration and added flavour.

Method

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in pan.
Add garlic and fry for a few seconds.
Add onion and fry for two minutes
Add meat - at this point, you have to almost stir-fry the meat, trying to get it all cooked evenly - maybe 5 to 8 minutes
When 90% of the meat is lightly browned, add the red wine and cook till the wine fumes evapourate
add in your Oreganum, tomatoes and mushrooms
add salt and pepper to taste
Add the pinches of sugar - a pinch is like 1/5 of a teaspoon.
cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
During simmering, add more wine if bolognaise is dry.
Before serving add extra herbs like fresh basil or thyme if you want.

What you do after that is up to you - a nice salad and glass of dry white or red wine with some garlic bread is highly reccomended.

The quest for the perfect bolognaise, or should we say Ragu, continues !

Yumm

Nice recipe. I was about to complain that you forgot to include mushrooms, (you did in the ingredients section) but I saw them mentioned in the method section.

If you are using mince, please, while browning do not stop breaking apart the uncooked meat until it is all cooked and broken apart. There is nothing worse than lumpy mince Bolognaise.

Another ingredient that may be considered is a red or yellow pepper.

END!

Its even better if you add mushrooms, 1 finely chopped carrot and a handful of diced bacon.

mmm... bacon and mushrooms. damn guys... it's only 9 in the morning and you make me hungry already!

thanks for the recipe bb_ ... i need to eat alot of it now... carbo-loading and all... and you guys make it a pleasure! thanks!

Sounds delicious

well it is delicious. you should try it