Ragu (Bolognese Sauce)

Reading this food blog inspired me to make ragu following my own recipe. I started originally with a recipe from Anna Del Conte’s book Gastronomy of Italy. Being 85 years old she does not have a website as far as I can tell but Amazon will happily sell anyone who’s interested a copy. This was for a long time my favorite Italian cookbook it is however very traditional and once you have mastered the basics not very inspiring. The ragu recipe however, is like all the traditional recipes in her book, absolutely fabulous.

I’m afraid that as with much of my cooking Mrs. Del Conte would not necessarily endorse the recipe as it has evolved in my hands. In any case the basic principle here, as with any ragu, is reduction of liquids and concentration of taste. I use veal as the bulk of the meat as it is very light but I find that its taste is not strong enough so I add about 50% beef mince to the veal. If veal is not available this recipe works just as well with only beef but obviously it will be a bit different and heavier.

Ingredients:

(When I make ragu I make enough to freeze at least three portions use later. If you used this recipe in one go this would be enough for 10 servings as Primi)

1. 500 grams veal mince (try to get fairly rough mince as you do not want the meat to fall apart in the cooking);
2. 250 grams beef mince (best quality in this case is not lean meat but something that has at least 15% fat content);
3. 100 grams chicken liver, minced really fine. You can do this with a knife;
4. 100 – 150 grams pork belly with the skin removed and cut up fine. If you can’t get pork belly use streaky bacon. Although the pork belly’s primary function is as provider of fat (and taste) I do not like to mince it like the other meats rather I cut it up as fine as I can with a sharp knife. This yields a little bit of texture in the sauce that is not at all traditional but I find very satisfying;
5. 1 large red onion cut fine;
6. 4 roughly cut garlic cloves;
7. 200 ml red vine;
8. 1 litre good quality chicken stock;
9. 150 grams tomato paste;
10. 1 tablespoon strong soy sauce;
11. Two large carrots pealed and cut in half;
12. A large celery stick cut in three (the idea is to discard both the carrot and the celery at the end);
13. A bunch each of roughly chopped Basil and Parsley;
14. Rind of Parmesan cheese. Letting the rind of Parmesan cheese simmer with the ragu yields a very nice creamy consistency in the sauce. I keep all the rinds from the parmesan I use in my freezer so that I can use it in my ragu. As I do not make ragu very often I usually have about three sizeable rinds that I let simmer for the whole coking time before discarding them at the end. If you do not have parmesan rinds you will need to use either full cream milk or cream to thicken the sauce at the very last moment;
15. Salt and pepper to taste.

Fry the pork in a very hot heavy bottomed stewing pan until a bit crisp, lower heat and add the onion and garlic and sweat it a bit. When the onion in soft add the chicken liver and fry until done (it will brown). Raise the heat and add the veal and beef mince and brown the meat.

Add red vine and boil off most of the alcohol. Meanwhile dissolve the tomato past in the stock and add to the pan along with the soy sauce and 80% of the herbs. Add the vegetables and Parmesan rind and season to taste. Bring to boil then lower the heat to a simmer and let the sauce simmer covered for about 3 – 3 ½ hours. At the end you should have a meat sauce that is not liquid but leaves “legs” on a metal spoon if you stir the sauce. If you reduce the sauce too much keep back some of the pasta boiling liquid to add to the sauce at the last moment.

Check regularly if the sauce has the desired taste and try to adjust the seasoning as you go along. You do not want to be adding large quantities of salt or pepper at the very end as that somewhat negates the effort in simmering the sauce for 3 hours.

If you are using milk or cream add it at least 10 minutes before the end to allow it to reduce. Serve with either penne or spaghetti, with a generous shaving of parmesan and a sprinkling of the remaining herbs.

Beef Brisket Braised in Trappist Beer:

(Made: 19 November 2006)

This is a new favourite that I have been developing in preparation of the annual Christmas dinner I throw with my Friend David. I have based the method on various similar dishes I’ve had in restaurants and traditional recipes from amongst others Raymond Olivier. Essentially, the idea to use beer is very much a modern idea whereas the Cinnamon is very traditionally French.

I serve the brisket with a variety of potato dishes including very fine truffle mash and rough mash with root vegetables mashed in. I also like to serve vegetables such as spinach on the side but the dish becomes very busy that way.

1. 1kg beef brisket preferably aged cut into individual, i.e. in the right size for a single portion, pieces;
2. Trappist Beer;
3. 1 large red onion cut into centimetre thick slices;
4. 4 large carrots cut into large approximately 3 cm by 1.5 cm pieces basically large enough to survive the braising;
5. 2 celery stalks cut into 3 cm pieces;
6. 4 cloves of garlic;
7. 1 bouqet garnie;
8. 1 Cinnamon Stick;
9. 2 – 3 laurel leaves;
10. Salt and Pepper.

In a large braising pot seal the meat in some oil remove and put aside. Caramelise the vegetables in a bit of olive oil and butter. When done turn off the heat and put the meat on top of the vegetables, season with salt and pepper before covering with the beer. It is important to completely cover with the beer so that there is a centimetre thick cover of beer over the meat. Add in the cinnamon, bouqet garnie and laurel leaves and let marinate for 4 – 5 hours at room temperature.

At least four hours before you intend to serve the brisket put the pot into a preheated oven at 170 degrees Centigrade. Let the meat braise for four hours until fifteen minutes before you want to serve it then take out the meat and separate the vegetables from the remaining sauce. Use the vegetables to prop up the meat on a serving plate. Thicken the sauce in a sauce pan and drizzle around the meat.

If you want to serve the truffle mash then this is the method. After pealing and boiling enough potatoes for the number of people you are serving mash them by forcing through a fine sieve. Once mashed work warm milk and butter into the mash until it is creamy but not runny. Then force back through the sieve one more time before working in truffle flavoured olive oil until you have achieved the desired consistency and flavour.