Ragù alla Bolognese (official)

Hot news. In April 2023, the Italians changed the recipe for ragù alla Bolognese.

Now, The Nosey Chef has been on this ground before, and we published a trusted family recipe for tagliatelle alla Bolognese. In that blog post, we went to great pains to acknowledge the then-official recipe published by the Accademia Italiana della Cucina. We made that dish in our own kitchen and decided it was no better than Scotch mince from a school canteen.

Then, we discovered that the Italians themselves realised that the ‘official’ recipe for ragù was a bit shit, and went out of their way to remedy the situation. Of course, we had to give this one a go.

The verdict from the assembled diners at Nosey HQ was that the revised recipe was a lot better than the old one but that the family recipe we have been using for years is still the go-to way to make a meaty ragù in the Bolgona way. Here, we provide the new 2023 recipe for ragù, and we doff a capo to la Accademia Italiana della Cucina.

Please serve it with tagliatelle and not spaghetti.

Print Recipe

Ragù alla Bolognese (official)

(4 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)

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By Accademia Italiana della Cucina – Serves: 4

Cooking Time: 2 hours

Ingredients

• 400g coarsely ground beef (see note)
• 150g fresh pork pancetta, chopped
• Half an onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1 stick of celery stalk, chopped
• 1 glass red or white wine
• 200g canned chopped tomatoes, strained
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 150ml milk
• 250ml meat or vegetable stock
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Instructions

1

In a Dutch oven or large, heavy saucepan, melt the pancetta with olive oil. Add the vegetables to the oil and pancetta and cook over low heat, stirring until softened but not browned.

2

Raise the heat, add the beef, break up, then cook until browned.

3

Add the wine; cook over medium heat until it has completely evaporated. Add the tomato paste

4

and purée. Stir in the stock, cover anf simmer for about 2 hours. Add stock or water as needed along the way. Halfway through, add the milk.

5

Season to taste.

Notes

Traditionally, in Bologna, a hanger or skirt steak is used. In lieu or in addition, favour anterior cuts, rich in collagen, such as shoulder or chuck, brisket, plate or flank. Combinations are acceptable, as is the modern technique of browning the meat separately and then adding it to the softened minced vegetables in the pan.