Bolognese ragù

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 50 ml olive oil
• 250 g minced beef
• 250 g sausage (salsiccia, alternatively fresh coarse bratwurst)
• 75 g bacon
• 100 g onion(s)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 80 g carrot(s)
• 60 g celery
• 25 g tomato paste
• 500 ml tomatoes (peeled tomatoes from the can)
• 500 ml tomato(s) (passati, pureed)
• 100 ml meat broth (a little more if necessary)
• 100 ml red wine
• salt and pepper
• Paprika powder, sweet
• Sugar
• oregano
• basil
• marjoram
• Thyme

Instructions

Working time approx. 40 minutes; Total time approx. 40 minutes

Traditional family recipe from Milan

First, prepare all the ingredients for the ragù: Place the minced meat in a bowl. Squeeze the sausage meat out, add it to the minced meat, and mix well. Dice the bacon. Roughly dice the onion and finely chop the garlic. Dice the carrots and finely slice the celery, finely slicing it further if necessary. Measure the remaining ingredients and set aside. Brown the meat and bacon in batches in a large pot over high heat. To do this, heat a portion of the olive oil at a time, brown a portion of the meat, and remove it from the pot with a slotted spoon when the meat is well browned (if all the meat were added to the pot at once, the oil would cool too quickly and the meat wouldn’t brown properly). Once the minced meat is cooked, brown the onions and garlic in the same pot. Add the carrots and celery and fry everything slightly (be careful, you don’t want the vegetables to brown, just add some color!). Then add the tomato paste and sauté for a few minutes. Deglaze with the stock and let it reduce completely. Then add the meat, tomatoes, and red wine to the pot. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the sauce gently until it reaches a nice, thick consistency. This will take about 2 hours. Stir frequently to prevent the ragù from sticking. Just before the end of the cooking time, add the herbs and season to taste.