:: RAGU'
Flash suggests the following recipe for ragł, Bolognese specialty par excellence.
Of the many famous recipes from Bolognese cuisine, we decided to start with ragł or meat sauce. Besides being one of Bologna's most famous recipes, ragł sauce is also served with countless Bolognese pasta dishes, ranging from lasagna to tagliatelle.
What's more, and this never hurts, it's not even that complicated to make.
So get to work, and "buon appetito"!
Ingredients for 6 servings:
* flank, sirloin, or chuck beef, ground coarsely (only once): 300 g
* pancetta: 50 g
* butter: 50 g
* whole ripe or canned peeled tomatoes: 400 g (or 1 tablespoon of tomato paste)
* 1 small onion
* 1 carrot
* 1 celery stalk
* 1/2 glass of red wine
* 1/2 glass of cream or milk
* olive oil
* salt and pepper
Finely chop the pancetta, onion, carrot, and celery and sauté them in butter and 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Cover and continue cooking on low heat for half an hour; add the meat, salt and pepper, and brown for several minutes; stir in the wine and let simmer until the wine has completely evaporated. Now add the peeled and diced tomatoes (or the tomato paste dissolved in a ladleful of hot broth). Cover and continue simmering on low heat for approximately 40 minutes. Finally, before removing from the burner, add the milk or cream.
It is particularly important not to overcook or to add too much tomato.
Recipe from "Il libro della vera Cucina Bolognese", by Paolo Petroni, Ed. Bonechi.
:: TORTELLINI
There certainly aren't many of us who have both the time and the urge to make our own pasta by hand. But someone will surely want to try!
The following recipe for real Bolognese tortellini will put your cooking skills to the test. And once you've had the satisfaction of taking on the challenge, you can go back to packaged pasta, which only requires short and simple cooking.
For the pasta dough (4 servings)
- 4 fresh eggs
- 400 grams of type "0" flour
Preparation:
Use a rolling pin to roll the dough out into a thin, uniform layer, avoiding any holes or folds (in a tremendous breach of tradition, we suggest the use of a pasta maker). Once you've rolled the dough out, be careful that it doesn't dry out, otherwise the tortellini will be difficult to close. Cut the dough into strips 5-7 cm long and 2-3 cm wide.
For the filling:
- 100 g of pork loin;
- 100 g of prosciutto (cured ham);
- 100 g of mortadella;
- 150 g of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (aged at least three years. With younger cheese, increase quantity)
- 1 chicken egg
- a hint of nutmeg
Preparation:
Finely chop all the ingredients and mix them together into a soft paste that can be placed in dollops at the center of the dough strips. To close the tortellini, fold the rectangular dough strip along the diagonal, pushing down on the edges so that the dough closes properly without leaving any gaps. Fold the top of the resulting triangle downwards and roll towards your index finger, with the folded top turned towards the outside of your finger. Now attach the other two corners together. You've just made your first tortellini. Now, repeat the same operation for the rest of them. Have fun and enjoy!
