The ultimate bolognese by Rosie Ramsden

  • Portion size: Serves 6
  • Hands-on time 45 min, simmering time 1½ hours
  • Difficulty: easy
Recipe by: Rosie Ramsden

The winner of the delicious. bolognese taste test has a real taste of Bologna. The secret ingredient? Roasted bone marrow.

If you want to raise your bolognese game, you could also take a look at Felicity Cloake’s bolognese with chicken livers, or Joe Hurd’s bolognese sauce with veal mince.

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Ingredients

  • 95g thinly sliced pancetta (the fattiest you can find), very finely chopped
  • 1 onion, very finely chopped
  • 1 large carrot, very finely chopped
  • 1 celery stick, very finely chopped
  • 1 large garlic clove, crushed
  • Grating fresh nutmeg
  • 350g British beef mince
  • 200g mix British rose veal mince (from Waitrose, Ocado and butchers) and/or free-range pork mince
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 175ml dry white wine
  • 3 heaped tbsp tomato purée
  • 2 x 5cm marrow bone pieces (see tip)
  • 100ml whole milk
  • Tagliatelle and plenty of grated parmesan to serve
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Method

  1. Heat a large lidded pan over a medium heat, then fry the pancetta until crisp and the fat has rendered. Reduce the heat and add the onion, carrot and celery with a pinch of salt. Fry gently for 15 minutes, stirring.
  2. Add the garlic and grated nutmeg and fry for a minute. Stir in all the mince and fry for 5 minutes until browned all over and any liquid has bubbled away (don’t worry aboutthe fat left in the pan). Add the bay leaves and turn up the heat slightly. Add the white wine and simmer until almost all the liquid has evaporated. Stir through the tomato purée.
  3. Reduce the heat to very low and cover the pan with a lid. Simmer very gently for 1 hour 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the meat is tender and rich. It shouldn’t be wet, but if it looks like it’s too dry, add a splash of water – remember you’ll be adding the milk at the end, though.
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  5. Towards the end of the simmering time, heat the oven to 200°C/ fan180°C/gas 6. Lightly season the marrow bones and put them in a roasting tin. Roast for 20 minutes.
  6. Scoop out the bone marrow with the end of a spoon and add to the sauce, then stir through the milk. Heat gently for 2 minutes, then taste and season accordingly. Toss through cooked tagliatelle, then serve sprinkled with grated parmesan.

Nutrition

  • 261kcals Calories
  • 15.2g (7g saturated) Fat
  • 21g Protein
  • 5g (4.4g sugars) Carbs
  • 1.4g Fibre
  • 0.7g Salt

For 6 servings

Quick wins & tips

Beef or veal bone marrow adds richness to stews and meaty sauces. You can buy marrow bones from butchers and many Waitrose stores but if you can’t get any, the ragù will still taste great.

Make Ahead

The cooked ragù will keep in the fridge for 3 days and in the freezer for 3 months.

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Reviews

simoncdale@gmail.com

There is surely some sort of liquid (stock or water) missing from this recipe. You can’t simmer something for 90 mins without any liquid.

Phoebe Stone

Thank you for your feedback. Our food editor advises that provided the heat is very low, the moisture in the ingredients plus the tomato purée and little bit of white wine left is enough to gently braise the mince. It needs a close eye though and regular stirring/splashes of water feeding into it if it’s catching. We hope you enjoy the recipe if you choose to cook it.

Dan Snook

The recipe calls for “grating fresh nutmeg” ! How much should be used?

delicious. magazine

Hi Dan, our food editor said: “I generally grate it so you get a fine dusting over the whole pan” Hope that helps.

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