Toni’s Bolognese Sauce

I’m going to start with a classic, a family dish you will cook, eat and enjoy for your whole life.

Ragu is the meat sauce the Bolognese use to go with their homemade pasta.  A properly made ragu is one of the most gratifying meals you can ever serve a family. There are four things you must remember in order to make a glorious Bolognese sauce: 

1. The meat must be cooked just long enough to lose its raw colour. It must not brown or it will lose tenderness. 

2. I cook it in milk before I add the tomatoes. This keeps the meat soft and succulent. 

3. It must simmer for 3½ to 4 hours.

4. Add a half a teaspoon of sugar, this brings out the sweetness of the Italian tomatoes. 

The marriage of tagliatelle and ragu is made in heaven, but ragu is very good with fresh tortellini, and spaghetti. 

You also need it in lasagna, and it is the business with rigatoni.

For 6 people you will need:

• ◆     1 finely chopped onion
• ◆     3 glugs of olive oil
• ◆     40g butter
• ◆     3 sticks of chopped celery
• ◆     2 medium chopped carrots
• ◆     400g minced lean beef
• ◆     Sea Salt
• ◆     250ml dry white wine
• ◆     8 tablespoons milk
• ◆     ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg freshly grated
• ◆     400g tin of Italian tomatoes, roughly chopped, with their juice

How to make:

Use a heavy, cast-iron casserole or pan, the deeper the better.

It’s best to keep the liquid in the Ragu and stop it reducing quickly. 

Put in the chopped onion, with all the oil and butter, and sauté until just transparent. Add the celery and carrot and cook gently for 4 to 5 minutes.

Add the mince, breaking it up. Add salt to taste; cook until the meat has lost its red colour.

Add the wine, and cook, stirring occasionally, until all the wine has evaporated. Then add the milk and the nutmeg, and cook until the milk has evaporated, stirring regularly.

When the milk has evaporated, add the tomatoes, when they have started to bubble, turn the heat down to a gentle simmer. Cook, uncovered, for a minimum of 3½ to 4 hours, stirring now and again. Check seasoning. 

Bolognese sauce: can be kept in the fridge for 5 days, or frozen. If you are using fresh tomatoes, A good idea in summer or if you grow your own, peel and deseed them and cook in a little water for 10 to 15 minutes. Then pass through the finest blade of a mouli-legumes, or a sieve.

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Below Fresh pasta

Toni’s Fresh Pasta 1.

You will need:

• ◆    290 grams of “00” flour, more as needed
• ◆    ¾ teaspoon/3 g sea salt
• ◆    2 whole large free range eggs
• ◆     3 free range egg yolks
• ◆     1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, more if needed

How to make:

In a food processor, pulse together flour and salt. Add eggs, yolks and oil and run the machine until the pasta dough knits together. If it looks a little dry, add a drop of olive oil. If the dough looks a little wet, add some flour until it is tacky and elastic.

Place the dough onto a clean work surface and knead for 8 minuets until smooth as a baby’s skin. Wrap in cling film and rest at room temperature for 1 hour or in the fridge overnight. 

Divide the dough into 4 pieces, keeping them covered with cling film. Using a pasta roller set to the thickest, highest setting, roll one piece of dough out into a sheet. Fold the sheet in thirds like a letter and pass it through the machine 2 more times on the same setting.

Reduce the setting, and repeat rolling and folding the dough, passing it through the machine 3 times before going to the next setting. For pappardelle and fettuccine, stop rolling when the dough is 1 setting wider than the thinnest one on your roller. For lasagna noodles, and for ravioli and other stuffed or filled pasta, go to the thinnest setting. 

Shape the pasta. For pappardelle, cut rolled pasta into 1-inch-wide strips. For fettuccine, run the rolled sheets through the fettuccine setting on your machine. Place cut pasta on a flour-dusted sheet tray and cover with cling film or a damp tea towel while rolling and cutting the remaining Pasta. Sprinkle flour over the cut pasta before you place another layer on top. If not using immediately, cover the sheet to keep the dough supple.

Bring a large pan of well-salted water to a boil, add fresh pasta and boil for 1 to 3 minutes, depending on thickness of the pasta. Be careful not to over cook the pasta.

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