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Gia-Gina Across the Pond

So I've decided to follow my husband to his native Italy. Follow our adventures as we eat, drink, travel, adapt to and explore this remarkable country. Part food blog, part photo blog but mostly my rants and raves. After our two years in Italy, we relocated across the Atlantic "pond" and are back in the States.

Friday, June 17, 2005

Ragu alla Bolognese

There are a ton of recipes out there for this pasta sauce and since I do not know a Bolognese nonna, I am going by my husband’s able and delicious version. He went on an all afternoon business trip yesterday and that gave me the time to simmer away.

A note: This version has a hint of cinnamon in it, this is highly irregular but we tried this dish at a restaurant in Rome and it was a surprisingly good combination. You can just leave the cinnamon out if you wish.

Ragu alla Bolognese
(For 4 people, and 1 little Chihuahua mix)

1 lg. carrot, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1-2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
Olive oil
1-2 bay leaves
½-2/3 cup milk
1 lg. can tomatoes
1 c. red wine
1 T. red wine vinegar
1-2 T. tomato paste
½ t. salt and a few good grinds of pepper
3 cinnamon sticks + ½ t. ground cinnamon (optional)

For the meat:
Ideally 1/3 lb. ground beef, pork and veal but ½ lb. ground pork and beef will do.

1. Heat a bit of olive oil in a large pot, add the onion, celery and carrots and sauté until soft, about 5-8 minutes. (The goal of this mixture is to have 1/3 of each ingredient, I process them all together because I‘m lazy.)
2. Add the meat and cook through, until there are no more pink spots.
3. Add wine, tomatoes, paste, salt and pepper, bay leaf, cinnamon, vinegar and let simmer with lid on for 1 hour. Stir occasionally. .
4. After 1 hour, add the milk, and simmer for another hour. The sauce should be slightly thick and so simmer with lid off if you have too much liquid. After 2 hours the meat should be soft and the sauce should be rich and a bit of a pale red, deep orange color.
5. Taste for salt; remove cinnamon sticks, and bay leaf.
6. Serve with Parmigiano and a thick pasta like fettuccini.

2 Comments:

At 9:40 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I made this recipe for dinner tonight and it turned out quite well. The cinnamon adds an unusual touch. I wasn't quite sure about it at first, because I'm more used to the classic preparation, but was quickly won over when my family loved it. Thanks!

 
At 1:42 AM, Blogger Gia-Gina said...

Alan,
Glad everyone liked it,it was a strange but yummy touch when I had it too. I love your soupsop sorbet, if I only had a sorbet maker. We gave our to my sister since the electricity voltage is different here and we have not gotten a new one yet.

 

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