Contents
Bolognese pasta: recipe. Video
A fragrant, hearty, rich bolognese pasta can be a worthy dish for both an intimate dinner and a gala family dinner. This traditional Italian recipe has enough variations to choose from whichever ingredients you find most appetizing for you.
Pasta with bolognese sauce
Bolognese pasta is impossible without the sauce of the same name. The famous Italian meat sauce comes from Bologna, a city in the north of the country. Thick and rich, it looks more like a stew. The base of the sauce is soffrito, a set of aromatic vegetables such as celery, onions, carrots, fried in olive oil or butter. Pieces of meat are added to the sofrito, most often beef and pancetta – smoked pork belly. Also, the sauce contains a little milk or cream, dry wine, necessarily tomato puree and broth. Bolognese is stewed for a long time over low heat, achieving a thick homogeneous mass. Salt and pepper are used as spices. Lax devotees of tradition also allow thyme, basil, garlic and a little nutmeg.
Another traditional Italian dish is prepared with bolognese sauce – bolognese lasagna
The spaghetti bolognese, popular outside of Italy, has a very distant relationship to the authentic recipe, and not only because it uses minced meat, not sliced meat. The main difference is that Italians consider spaghetti an inappropriate pairing for thick meat sauces. The pasta in this duo is wide flat pasta such as tagliatelle, pappardelle or fettuccine, as well as tubules such as rigatoni and penne.
How to serve Bolognese pasta
Bolognese pasta is served on wide serving plates, first putting the pasta there, and then placing the sauce on them and sprinkling it with oil. Some cooks garnish the dish with grated Parmesan cheese, while others prefer the sauce to taste natural without any additives. It is customary to serve rich red wine with pasta bolognese.
The Emilia-Romagna region, in which Bologna is located, is famous among other things for its cows and bulls. That is why beef is the meat that is considered the most suitable for an authentic sauce. You should not choose the best cut, because the household Italians invented the bolognese precisely in order to soften the pieces of tough beef. You will need: – 2 tablespoons of olive oil; – 1 head of onion; – 1 stalk of celery; – 2-3 medium carrots;
– 3 cloves of garlic; – 100 grams of pancetta; – 2-3 tablespoons of tomato paste;
– 1 teaspoon of thyme leaves; – 750 grams of boneless beef; – 1 glass of milk, 3,5% fat; – 1 glass of dry white wine; – 1 can of chopped tomatoes (400 grams); – 2 cups beef broth; – 500 grams of pasta.
Peel the garlic and place in the bowl of a food processor, add the diced pancetta brisket and pulse until smooth. Set aside. Peel the onions, celery and carrots, wash under running water, dry and chop the onions and celery into small cubes, and grate the carrots on a coarse grater. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the onions are translucent. Add grated carrots and garlic pancetta paste, and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add tomato paste. Simmer for a few minutes, waiting for the paste to become thinner. Cut the beef into thin slices across the fibers, the slices should not be thicker than 0,5 mm and longer than 1 centimeter. Add meat to vegetables, add thyme leaves and mix well. Add milk to saucepan, increase heat, bring to a boil, then lower heat back to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until milk is almost completely evaporated. Pour in wine, broth, add chopped tomatoes and bring the sauce to a boil again. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 3-4 hours (or ideally all day). Season with salt and pepper.
Ready-made bolognese sauce is perfectly stored in the refrigerator (up to 5 days), and also perfectly tolerates freezing and can lie in the freezer for a month
Cook the pasta (wide noodles or straws) according to package directions. Drain, place pasta on plates and top with bolognese sauce, sprinkle with grated Parmesan if desired.
Pasta bolognese with pork and mushrooms
Despite the unusual list of ingredients, such a pasta – with porcini mushrooms and pork – can also be considered authentic. Take: – 4 tablespoons of unsalted butter; – 1 cup diced onions; – 1 cup grated carrots; – 1 cup celery, sliced – 1 kilogram of pork; – 30 grams of dried porcini mushrooms; – 500 grams of chopped tomatoes; – 1 glass of meat broth; – 1 glass of dry red or white wine; – 1 glass of milk; – 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg; – salt and black pepper; – 500 grams of pasta.
Soak dried mushrooms in a glass of boiling water. Heat butter over medium-high heat in a large, heavy saucepan or skillet with a thick bottom and high sides. Put onion, celery and carrots in melted butter and simmer for 5-8 minutes, stirring frequently. Drain the mushrooms, cut them into slices. Set the water from under the dried whites aside. Cut the meat into small pieces. When vegetables are tender, add chopped porcini mushrooms and chopped tomatoes, cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently. Put the meat in the soffrito, fry, add the mushroom broth and broth. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to minimum. Simmer uncovered and stir occasionally. Cook for several hours; when the liquid evaporates, add the wine. Add milk, nutmeg and black pepper shortly before cooking and stir well. Bring to a boil again, season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat. Boil the pasta in accordance with the instructions on the package. Serve with the sauce.