Spaghetti Bolognese is not a dish. It is a passion. And as always, when emotions are involved, there are different recipes. But one thing always remains the same: you need red wine, for cooking and for drinking.
What goes into a real Bolognese?
The recipe (here for 4 people) is very simple. The ingredients are:
- 250 g minced beef
- 2 slices of raw smoked pancetta
- 2 stalks of celery (removed from the threads and chopped into small pieces)
- 3 carrots (peeled and diced)
- 1 medium-sized household onion (diced)
- 500 g tomatoes (fresh or canned)
- 2 garlic cloves
- 2-3 sprigs of thyme and/or rosemary (or dried herb seasoning mix)
- Olive oil
- 2 bay leaves
- 100 g finely grated Parmesan cheese
- 250 ml red wine (1/3 bottle)
The question now is, which red wine? Basically, any strong, not too floral red wine is suitable for Bolognese, including Spanish, French and German red wines. As the red wine is used for deglazing or simmering over a low heat, you should not use a high-quality red wine. You won’t be able to taste the quality afterwards. It is of course more stylish to use an Italian red wine. Chianti, Chianti classico, Sangiovese di Romagna would be a good choice. But a Montepulciano from Marche or Abruzzo, a Negroamaro from Apulia, a Nero d’Avola from Sicily or other Mediterranean red wines are also suitable for Bolognese.
…and this is how you proceed
Onions, carrot, celery and garlic are slowly braised in olive oil in a large pan with the pancetta (i.e. at a low temperature) to make a soffritto. After about 15 minutes, the minced beef is added. It is browned in the soffritto over a (briefly) high heat. After five minutes, the whole thing is deglazed with red wine. Now it hisses and bubbles. When the red wine has evaporated, repeat the process. Finally, add the tomatoes. Bring to the boil once and then simmer over a very low heat for an hour or two or even three hours, preferably with the lid on. In this last phase, add the herbs and bay leaves and leave to simmer. If necessary, add a dash of red wine from time to time. The bolognese must be liquid. Otherwise it will not become a sugo.
When everything is ready, remove the pancetta slices, bay leaves and sprigs of thyme etc. from the ragù. The ragù can now be ladled over the spaghetti (better still: tagliatelle or wide egg noodles) with a spoon or small ladle. In this case, the diners mix pasta and Bolognese on their plate. Of course, you can also put the finished pasta in the pan and mix everything there before serving. Don’t forget to season the bolognese with salt and pepper. And most importantly: sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and a dash of olive oil if necessary. By the way: the cooking wine does not necessarily have to be the drinking wine. It can (should) be better than the cooking wine.
