Bolognese

Bolognese (Italian ragù alla bolognese) is a rich, hearty meat sauce originating in the city of Bologna in northern Italy. It is one of the most famous Italian sauces, a classic example of a slow, patient ragù in which the flavour is developed through long simmering.

The base of Bolognese is minced meat (traditionally beef, often with added pork or pancetta), which is browned on an aromatic base of soffritto (finely cut onion, carrot, and celery). Then a little tomato is added (in true Bolognese there is not much — it is a meat, not a tomato, sauce), wine and milk or cream are poured in, which soften the flavour, and it is left to simmer slowly for at least two or three hours. During this time the meat becomes exceptionally tender, and the flavours deep and rounded. Despite the world popularity of “spaghetti Bolognese”, in Italy this sauce is traditionally served not with spaghetti but with wide tagliatelle noodles or used in lasagne, since the thick sauce clings better to wide flat pasta. Bolognese is a symbol of home Italian cooking, the dish of an unhurried Sunday dinner.