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Bolognese Ragu
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Bolognese Ragu

This gorgeous meaty sauce can be used with spaghetti but traditionally it’s used with tagliatelle and lasagne. Typically served with grated parmesan or pecorino cheese.

Preparation time

20 min.

Cooking time

180 min.

Serves

4

Spice used

Sofrito

Difficulty

Easy

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 leek, diced
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 celery, diced
  • 1 carrot, diced
  • 3 mushrooms, diced
  • 2 garlic, minced
  • 2 TBSP unsalted butter
  • 1 (up to500g) pack of mince (beef/veal/lamb or a combination of that with sausage meat)
  • 1 (up to 100g) pack of pancetta
  • 200ml of white wine
  • 50ml milk
  • 50ml cream
  • 1 TBSP of Tomato purée
  • 1 tin of plum tomatoes
  • Splash of Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 or 2 beef or chicken stock cubes (depending on taste, we use 2)
  • 400ml of water, roughly at first and another 200 ml to add as it cooks
  • 3 tsp of SOFRITO Blend by Camelēr Spice Co.
  • Salt & Black pepper (as needed)
  • Pinch of sugar (as needed)
  • Few drops of lemon juice (as needed)

This recipe is a worthwhile labour of love and perfect for a slow cooker. Incredibly tasty, light & with huge depth. A combination of traditional techniques using inspiration from recipes by Marcella Hazan, the connoisseur of Italian cooking herself, with a few twists and turns (namely making the most of the Camelēr’s larder) and with patience and heart, this we think is an ultimate take on it! (Double everything if making a 1kg batch of meat. It’s ideal for freezing or using later in the week and makes the effort well worth the while.)

Method

  1. In a large saucepan, sauté pancetta, add the onions, sauté until translucent, add butter, then carrots, celery and leeks and cook for 2 minutes. Set aside.
  2. Wipe the pan clean. Add olive oil and turn heat up to medium high, grab chunks of meat and add to the pan to brown on each side, do this in batches. Set aside.
  3. Combine the meat and veggies in the pan, add garlic and mushrooms, cook for few min and meanwhile break up the meat pieces.
  4. Add wine, turn heat up high, once the liquid is reduced and fully evaporated, add the milk and cream, and stir until it evaporates too.
  5. Add tomato paste, cook for 2 min, add Worcestershire sauce, tinned plum tomato, press them, fill can with water, and add to the pan along with stock cubes and SOFRITO spice blend. Cook uncovered for a minimum of 3-5 hours on low heat. Adding splashes of water and stirring as needed.
  6. Once finished, taste for seasoning, adding salt, pepper, a dash of lemon juice and a pinch of sugar, as needed. We taste after each little addition here and there and put more or less of each.