A go-to meat sauce is an absolute must in my world. It's one of those things I keep on hand in the freezer at all times so if I need a comforting / impressive / delicious meal, I pull out a Ragù alla Bolognese in like no time flat!
Like most things on What's Gaby Cooking - this isn't just any meaty red Bolognese sauce. It's quite possibly the best combo ever as it's a marriage of a Ragù Bolognese and a Béchamel sauce which gives it that extra creamy flavor and let's be real here people, what isn't better with a little cream sauce? It's made with both ground beef and ground pork plus a giant glug of wine... so it's a winner in my book. Not to mention it makes a whole vat of sauce! Which is perfect because I can stick half of it in the freezer for a rainy day when I am in a crunch for dinner!
Serve it up on a bed of pasta, a plate of gnocchi, on top of spaghetti squash... you name it! Skies the limit with this one. And it's perfect for all that cold weather going on this time of year!
Ragù alla Bolognese
Ingredients
For the Béchamel
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 4 tablespoons flour
- 2 ⅔ cups milk
- 1 cup grated parmesan cheese
- kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
For the Ragù
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 ounces pancetta, finely chopped
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 3 medium stalk celery with leaves, finely diced
- 3 small carrot, finely diced
- 6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 10 ounces ground pork
- 10 ounces ground beef
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- ⅔ cup dry red wine
- 1 cup half and half (or heavy cream or milk)
- 1 28-ounce can san marzano tomatoes, hand crushed
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Recommended for serving
- 1-2 pounds cooked fresh fettucine pasta, or any other pasta, gnocchi etc of your choosing
Instructions
For the Béchamel
- In a large saucepan melt the butter over medium hight heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring with a whisk, for 3 minutes. Slowly add the milk, and whisk together. Add the grated parm. Whisk and cook over medium heat for several minutes, until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and let cool.
For the Ragù
- Heat the olive oil in a 12 inch dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the pancetta and chopped vegetables and sauté, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon, about 10 minutes. Add in the garlic and sauté for 30 seconds before adding in the meat. Stir the meat into the pan and slowly brown over medium heat, breaking up with a wooden spoon. Stir often for about 15 minutes, or until the meats are a deep brown. Add the tomato paste and stir to combine.
- Add the wine to the dutch oven, lowering the heat so the sauce bubbles quietly. Stir occasionally until the wine has reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Scrape up the brown bits as the wine bubbles. Stir in the half and half. Adjust heat so the liquid bubbles very slowly. Partially cover the pot, and cook for 30 minutes. Stir frequently to check for sticking. Add the tomatoes, crushing them as they go into the pot. Cook uncovered, at a very slow bubble for another 20-30 minutes, or until the sauce resembles a thick, meaty stew. Season with salt and pepper
- Once cooked, stir in the Béchamel sauce into the meat sauce and combine with a wooden spoon until fully combined. Add the cooked fresh pasta and stir to combine.
Hi!
I’ve been searching for a great bolognese recipe but don’t eat meat. Any suggestions on how to modify this one to make it vegetarian?
Thank you!
Absolutely AMAZING! Saving this recipe as one of my go-to's. I did not have pancetta on hand so I used bacon and also just had regular crushed tomatoes but I think it turned out so good!
Dear Gaby, I just finished making Ragù alla Bolognese. The recipe turned out with great flavor but the appearance is not as nice as yours. I noticed that my Red sauce was not as red so I proceeded to add a smaller can of the tomatoes. Still the colors is not too appealing. May be there was too much bechamel in mine. I've had to ask my family members to close their eyes and taste the sauce otherwise we'll, anyway Thank you for a great recipe I will stick to the red sauce and use the bechamel for something else.
Teresa
Not only is this one of the best pasta recipes I have ever made, I truly believe it is one of the best meals I have ever had! Well worth the time to put into it, I already can't wait for the next time we make it! Outstanding!
I made this last night and the whole house smelled like we had gone to Italy! Thank you so much for your detailed instructions! It was wonderful!
This looks amazing! Do you have a alternate suggestion for the pancetta? I’m sure it’s won’t be the same but unfortunately I can’t eat pancetta....
you can totally omit - still mega flavorful
So when you say you pull it out of the freezer do you just freeze the red sauce and make the white sauce at the moment you are reheating spaghetti?
no i make the entire thing, and then freeze portions of it!! and then re-heat over low heat on the stove
Yummmmm! This looks and sounds like Bolognese heaven!
I have made this many times for my family and it is a amazing. I am a Bolognese snob and I think this one is incredible. Everyone Gaby fan/follower should try it - they will make it over and over.
This is so good that my husband eats it like soup
My family LOVES this sauce. They waited a long time for me to finish making dinner, and it was unanimously totally worth the wait! Six of our nine kids are home today (only two are still living at home). This was the perfect meal to end the weekend with (even if it was 8 pm when we ate!) Thanks so much, Gaby, for a delish sauce that we will be putting into the regular rotation.
Question - How do you measure 3 cups of whole peeled plum tomatoes? I have two 28oz cans. Should i use both or just one? Also, so far the 'stew' is very beige, not deep red... #gettingworried
it's roughly 1 28-ounce can! No need to worry - color develops as it cooks! And if you want to add extra tomatoes to make it more red, that's totally allowed
Just checking if the "2 cups of milk" in Ragu portion of this recipe is an error? I have made many, many of your recipes and all have been wonderful and looked very similar to your photos. (so thank you for all of your great recipes, I have shared with many friends and they now follow you as well)
This sauce, however, was a VERY light pink and was also very thin, even after simmering one hour after adding the milk as recipe indicates. Your photos show a rich and thick deep red sauce.
Any tips you may have for achieving a better result are appreciated! Thanks!
it's not an error! Sounds like it just needed to reduce even further to get thicker?
Thank you
Maybe. Thank you
Hey I really want to make this recipe but I’m from Australia so measurements are different here we don’t use ounces for meat here we uses grams or kilograms so many ounces in Australian measurements is that I just find ounces bit confusing in my country ? Hope I didn’t confuse you I tried looking it up online
Just noticed the two cups of milk in the ragu ingredients but no step for it in the recipe...is this reduced down too? Might explain my colour issue. Regardless, still delicious
it's in step 6!