Ragu Bolognese

Ragu Bolognese 

Ingredients

• 1 large red onion (diced finely)
• 4 celery ribs (finely diced)
• 3 carrots (peeled and finely diced)
• 250 g  (9 oz) bacon (sliced and diced into small “lardons”)
• 350 g  (3/4 lb) ground beef (mince)
• 4 pork and sage sausages (remove the casing and slide the meat out.)
• 100 g (1/4-cup) chicken livers (this is an optional ingredient, and not everyone loves grappling with chicken livers, but they are worth the slime for the velvety texture they add, as well as the flavor. Once you have cleaned them, put them into a food processor, fitted with a steel blade and pulse 6 times to break them down. )
• 400 ml (1-2/3 cups) Canned tomatoes, diced with their juice
• 250 ml (1 cup) whole milk
• 250 ml (1 cup) dry white wine
• 250 ml (1 cup) chicken stock
• 30 ml (2 Tbl) nutmeg
• 30 ml (2 Tbl) fresh sage (stems removed, finely chopped)
• 45 ml (3 Tbl) butter
• 15 ml (1 Tbl) olive oil
• coarse sea salt
• fresh ground pepper

Directions

1. Prep the vegetables and meat. Set a heavy-bottomed Dutch Oven or the stoneware of a slow cooker on moderate heat. Melt the butter and olive oil until the mixture begins to bubble. Add the onion, and saute until the onions become see-through and soft. Add the celery and carrot, and cook, stirring to combine, for 3 minutes.
2. Add the bacon lardons and toss until they begin to sweat and curl at the edges. Then, add the meat and sausage and use the back of a wooden spoon to separate into smaller pieces. Salt the meat with a pinch of the coarse sea salt. Cook for 4 minutes, then add the chicken livers. Cook a further 3 minutes until the beef is browned all over and the chicken livers have gone from chocolate brown to a pinky-grey.
3. Pour in the milk, reduce heat and stir to combine the onion/meat mixture with the milk. Keep a sharp eye on it as it simmers. When about half of the milk is absorbed, add one of the tablespoons of nutmeg to the mixture.
4. When the milk is completely absorbed, add the wine and stir until the wine, in its turn, has completely evaporated. Then add the tomatoes. Stir to combine all the ingredients thoroughly. Add the chopped sage.
5. It is now time to go to the “slow and low” part of the process, when you can walk away from the sauce for all but the occasional stir. You can bake the sauce, covered, in the oven at 150C or 300F (Gas Mark 2) for 3-4 hours. You can simmer it on top of the stove, pot lid slightly ajar under a very weak flame to ensure that the sauce does not rise above what Marcella calls, “the laziest of simmers,” (I love that) also for 3-4 hours. In a slow cooker, 5-6 hours on low will achieve the results. You are looking for all of the moisture to disappear at the end of the “slow and low” process, but not before the end. If the mixture dries out, use the chicken stock to reintroduce liquid. Stir occasionally.
6. If you are serving immediately: keep the sauce warm while you cook the pasta. Be sure to salt the pasta water with a generous pinch of salt. Cook until just shy of al dente (still chewy and not sticking to the kitchen wall when you hurl it towards it) When you are ready to drain the pasta, keep back a cup or coffee mug full of the pasta water. Drain the pasta. Place a deep saute pan or Dutch oven onto moderate heat. Add the pasta water, and when it simmers, add the drained pasta and stir to coat. Add the sauce to the proportions you desire and then toss with a pair of tongs.
7. Garnish with freshly grated cheese and serve immediately.

Note:

If you don’t plan to serve the pasta sauce immediately, allow it to cool to room temperature and then refrigerate, covered, for up to 2 days.  To freeze, allow to cool to room temperature then pack into zip lock plastic bags, which you can then flatten and stack.   Always make more than you think you’ll need:  it is great for the next few days or you can repurpose it in a lasagna.