Ragù Bolognese

A few other things are worth noting here:

First of all, I need to thank my brother, Charlie (who is a great cook in his own right), for making this for me and inspiring me to try it. To be honest, I’d always dismissed Bolognese as “fancy marinara meat sauce” and thus never got around to making it. In fact, when Charlie recommended it for dinner one night, I played along but was non-plussed at the idea. Boy was I wrong – it’s outta sight!

Second, speaking of giving credit where credit is due, after I tried Charlie’s version I spent a fair amount of time researching and pulled from my own knowledge as well as other recipes on the internet.

Third, the observant reader will notice how similar this is to both Boeuf Bourguignon and Coq Au Vin in terms of technique: Browned protein, Mirepoix (celery, onion, carrots), Umami, Protein, Wine, Braise.

Anyhow, without further ado:

Ingredients

1. 2½ cups Essential Stock (or 2½ cups store-bought chicken broth PLUS 2 tablespoons or 2 packets of Knox unflavored gelatin sprinkled on top)
2. 1.5 lbs pork shoulder, cut into 2-inch cubes
3. 1.5 lbs ground beef
4. 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
5. 2 ribs celery, diced
6. 2 carrots, diced
7. 1 large yellow onion, diced
8. 3 tablespoons (ish) minced parsley
9. 4 cloves garlic, minced
10. Tiny grating fresh nutmeg (or 1/8 teaspoon ground)
11. 1 teaspoon(ish) freshly grated orange zest
12. 3 sprigs each fresh: sage, parsley, thyme, basil (or whatever combination of herbs makes you happy, substitute 2 teaspoons each dried if fresh is unavailable)
13. 1 Bay leaf
14. 1½ cups crappy white wine (cheap is fine, but it must be dry)
15. Umami Bomb – 2 tablespoons each of three (or more) of the following:
    • Anchovy paste
    • Tomato paste
    • Miso Paste
    • Roasted Garlic (about 1 head)
    • Soy Sauce
16. 1½ cup whole milk or half-n-half
17. 1 28 oz can whole San Marzano tomatoes (or whatever you can find), crushed by hand
18. 2-3 tablespoons high smoke point fat (avocado oil, vegetable oil, duck fat, etc.)
19. Kosher Salt and Fresh Ground Black Pepper
20. 1/4 cup heavy cream
21. 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
22. Vinegar, Kosher Salt, Sugar – to balance.

Prep & Mis En Place

1. If using store-bought chicken stock, mix stock with 2 packets of unflavored gelatin. Stir and set aside. Skip this step if using homemade stock.
2. Dice celery, carrots and onions and set aside in a medium bowl
3. Mince parsley garlic; and set aside in a small bowl and grate nutmeg and orange zest into the same bowl
4. Tie herbs and bay leaf up in a piece of cheesecloth (or half a coffee filter in a pinch). This is called a bouquet garni.
5. Measure out wine and set aside
6. Umami Bomb: Mix ingredients well; set aside in a small bowl.
7. Measure out milk and set aside
8. Open can of tomatoes and, using an immersion blender, puree them in the can (or crush them by hand, or use a potato masher – whatever works).
9. Open package of ground beef
10. Cut up pork shoulder into 1.5 – 2 inch cubes
11. Locate butter, parmesan, and heavy cream

Cook

1. Preheat oven to 300°F
2. Lace a Dutch oven with a high smoke-point fat (vegetable oil, avocado oil, duck fat, ghee, etc) and heat over medium-high heat.
3. Season pork shoulder with salt and pepper. Add pork shoulder cubes to dutch oven and brown well on all sides; remove with a slotted spoon and reserve (does not need to be cooked through)
4. Do not wipe out pan – you should now have a lovely fond built up in the bottom of your pot
5. Add the mirepoix (celery, onion, carrots) and continue to sauté until soft, 8-10 minutes, scraping up the fond from the bottom of the pot as the vegetables release their moisture
6. Add ground beef and cook until no longer red but do not brown (at least not too much).
7. Meanwhile, continue to stir and break up ground beef in dutch oven as it cooks.
8. Add aromatics (parsley, garlic, nutmeg, orange zest) to sauté pan with mirepoix and cook until very fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Do not allow garlic to brown. Add a splash of wine, stock, or water if need be to stop the cooking process
9. Stir Umami Bomb (mixed anchovy paste, tomato paste and miso paste) into ground beef and stir well to incorporate.
10. Add wine, and cook until almost evaporated
11. Add milk or half-and-half, and cook down until almost evaporated
12. Add crushed tomatoes and stir well to combine
13. Add stock
14. Add browned cubes of pork
15. Submerge bouquet garni in liquid.
16. Give everything a good stir
17. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
18. Transfer Dutch oven to 300°F oven and leave uncovered. (You want it to reduce as it cooks). Allow to cook 4-5 hours. Check on it every hour or so and stir – fat should rise to the top and some browning should occur. If browning is happening too rapidly, or sauce reduces too quickly, add a splash of stock or water occasionally. After about an hour or so, the fat should all rise to the top, creating a protective barrier over the rest of the contents.
19. After 4-5 (or more hours), remove from oven and skim off as much fat as you can with a large spoon (there will still be A LOT left in the sauce)
20. Stir in heavy cream. Bring to a boil to emulsify stirring occasionally.
21. Taste and balance with splashes of vinegar, and pinches of salt and sugar until desired flavor profile is achieved.
22. Serve over pasta (tagliatelle is ideal here, but rigatoni is also traditional). Pass parmesan at the table.