Traditional Emilian · Official Deposited Recipe

Ragù alla Bolognese

The slow-simmered meat sauce of Bologna — soffritto, beef, pancetta, and just enough tomato.

Serves

Active time

~45 min

Simmer

2–3 hr

Total

~3½ hr

Difficulty

Easy · patient

Utensils gather before you start

Heavy 10-inch (24–26 cm) pot — enamelled cast-iron Dutch oven, terracotta, or thick non-stick, with a lid
Chef's knife & cutting board (no food processor for the soffritto)
Wooden spoon

Kitchen scale
Small saucepan or kettle for hot stock
Measuring spoons & cup
Ladle

Ingredients check off as you weigh

400 g (1 lb) coarsely ground beef — see note
150 g (6 oz) fresh pork pancetta
60 g (2 oz) onion, peeled — ½ onion
60 g (2 oz) carrot, peeled — 1 medium
60 g (2 oz) celery, trimmed — 1 stalk
½ cup red or white wine

200 g (7 oz) strained tomatoes (passata)
1 tbsp double-concentrated tomato paste
½ cup whole milk — optional, traditional
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Light meat or vegetable broth — as needed
Salt & pepper

Mise en place do all of this first

Finely hand-chop the onion, carrot, and celery into a fine, even soffritto. Keep them together in one bowl.
Finely chop the pancetta (or grind it) so it renders quickly and evenly.
Bring stock to a simmer and keep it hot on a back burner — you'll add it warm, never cold.
Measure the passata, tomato paste, wine, milk, and oil so they're within reach.
Bring the meat to room temperature and break up any clumps with your fingers.

Method

Render the pancetta3–4 min

Warm the olive oil and chopped pancetta in the pot over medium-low heat until the fat melts and turns translucent.
Soften the soffritto8–10 min

Add the chopped onion, carrot, and celery. Cook gently over low heat, stirring constantly with the wooden spoon, until softened and fragrant — but not browned.
Brown the beef~10 min

Raise to medium heat and add the beef. Break it apart and cook, stirring, until it sizzles and takes on color.
Deglaze with wine5–8 min

Pour in the wine and let it cook over medium heat until completely evaporated.
Add the tomato2 min

Stir in the tomato paste and passata until well combined, then pour in a cup of the hot stock (or water).
Simmer, low and slow2–3 hr · mostly hands-off

Cover and simmer very gently for 2 hours (up to 3, depending on the cut). Top up with hot stock or water whenever it looks dry, stirring occasionally.
Add milk (optional)at the halfway mark

About halfway through the simmer, stir in the milk and let it cook away completely. It rounds out the acidity.
Season & finish2 min

Taste and adjust with salt and pepper just before serving. It's ready when it's a rich maroon, thick and glossy.

On the meat Bologna traditionally uses hanger or skirt (the beef diaphragm). It's hard to find, so favor collagen-rich front cuts — chuck or shoulder, brisket, plate, or flank. Browning the meat separately, then folding it into the soffritto, is an accepted modern technique.

What's allowed per the Bologna deposit

Permitted

Mixed beef & pork (about 60% beef)
Knife-minced meat
Cured pancetta in place of fresh
A pinch of nutmeg

Not acceptable

Veal · pork only
Smoked pancetta or bacon
Garlic, rosemary, parsley, other herbs
Brandy instead of wine
Flour as a thickener

Enrich with

Chicken livers, hearts, gizzards
Crumbled pork sausage
Blanched peas (at the end)
Rehydrated dried porcini