Ultimate Ragu

Ragu Bolognese is best eaten the day it is made. Despite what many Italian cookbook authors say, it loses vivacity in the freezer. White wine is a must. Its pleasant acid lifts the ragu’s flavor, while red wine’s tannins weigh it down. I prefer milk simmered into the sauce to cream added at the end. Tomatoes (crushed, milled or pureed) in the proportion of about a cup to two pounds of ground meat, plus a little paste, for additional umami, are ideal. Long, slow browning adds valuable depth. I preferred Marchetti’s simple approach to Bastianich’s, which required close attention for 45 minutes. Butter tastes more at home than olive oil for starting the soffritto. Homemade beef broth (which Marchetti calls for) makes excellent ragu, but I didn’t find enough difference between it and good-quality purchased chicken stock. A couple nonuniversal touches add something worthwhile: garlic (which I found only in the Bastianich recipe, and which would no doubt be ridiculed in Bologna), and nutmeg.

Unbalanced

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

In a mini food processor, combine the pancetta and garlic, pulse a few times to break up the pieces, then process until it becomes a smooth paste.

Step 2

Scrape the paste into a large, wide Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pot, along with 2 tablespoons of butter. Melt them together over medium heat, spreading the paste around with a wooden spoon so its fat begins to render. Cook until the fat is mostly rendered, about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the onion, carrot and celery — the soffritto — and cook slowly over medium-low heat, stirring frequently enough so the soffritto doesn’t brown — until the onion is soft, translucent and pale gold, about 15 minutes.

Step 3

Add the ground beef and pork to the pot, increase the heat to medium, and break up the meat with a wooden spoon as much as possible. Once the meat starts to faintly sizzle, reduce the heat to medium-low. Let the meat brown slowly, stirring occasionally and continuing to break up any remaining clumps, for about 1 hour, until evenly browned and burnished.

Step 4

When the meat is nearly done browning, in a medium saucepan over high heat, heat the broth until simmering; cover and keep hot over low heat until ready to use.

Step 5

Increase the heat under the browned meat to medium-high and stir in the wine, scraping up any browned bits or deposits on the bottom of the pan. Cook and stir until the wine is mostly soaked in and evaporated, about 3 minutes. Stir in the salt and nutmeg, reduce the heat to medium-low and add the milk, cooking and stirring until it is barely visible, about 3 minutes.

Step 6

Measure 2 cups of the hot broth and dissolve the tomato paste in it. Stir the broth with paste into the meat sauce, then stir in the tomato puree. (Keep the unused broth handy in the pot in case you need to reheat it and add more to the sauce later.) Partially cover the pot and let the sauce simmer slowly and gently, stirring occasionally, until it is thick and all the components begin to melt together, about 2 hours.

Step 7

Stir the sauce — if it is starting to look at all dry, reheat the remaining chicken broth, ladle in a little more, about 1/2 cup, and stir. Continue to simmer gently, uncovered, stirring occasionally and adding a little more hot broth or water as needed to keep the sauce sumptuously saucy, until the vegetables have completely melted into the sauce, about 1 hour.

Step 8

Cut the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter into a few pieces and stir them into the sauce; add about 20 grinds of freshly ground black pepper and stir that in, too. Taste, and season with more salt and/or pepper, if desired, and garnish with Parmigiano-Reggiano, if using.