Tagliatelle with ragù

Duration: 1 h and 30 min

Difficulty: Medium

Origin: Emilia Romagna

Tagliatelle with ragù, incorrectly called tagliatelle alla Bolognese, are a typical dish of Emilia Romagna, in particular the area between Bologna and Modena. Homemade egg pasta is one of the most loved expressions of the Emilian area and even more so if seasoned with a delicious Bolognese sauce. Tagliatella is a type of pasta which, according to tradition, is of Bolognese origin, invented by a certain Master Zefirano in 1487. We even think that the “Bolognese” tagliatella has an official unit of measurement, consisting of a golden tagliatelle having a width of 8mm and a thickness of 6-8 tenths of a millimetre. Even the “Bolognese” ragù has its standard which requires it to follow the recipe presented here.

Wine pairing: Colli Bolognesi Rosso DOC

Ingredients

For 4 people:

For the tagliatelle:

• 300 gr di Flour
• 3 Eggs
• Salt

For ragu:

• 250 g of minced beef pulp
• 250 g of minced pork pulp
• 1 stalk of celery
• 1 Carrot
• 1 Onion
• 80 g of bacon
• 1 glass of red wine
• ½ liter of broth
• 2 tablespoons of Tomato Concentrate
• Butter
• Pepper
• salt

 How to Proceed

First let’s move on to preparing the tagliatelle.

Prepare a pastry board and pour the flour forming a fountain. In the hollow in the center, shell the eggs. Add a pinch of salt and start kneading, first delicately and then gradually more vigorously. Continue kneading for about 15 minutes, until the dough has an elastic and compact consistency. Form a ball with the dough and after wrapping it in transparent film, let it rest for at least an hour in a cool place.

Once the time has elapsed, take the dough again and roll out a very thin sheet (about 1 mm thick). You can use the machine for preparing pasta and cutting tagliatelle. Or you can prepare the tagliatelle completely by hand. Sprinkle the pastry with flour and begin to wrap it on itself without pressing too much to prevent the layers of pastry from sticking. Then with a very sharp knife cut the roll into many slices less than 1 cm thick. Unroll the pasta wrapped in the slice thus forming the tagliatelle. Leave them to dry in a tray with a little semolina to prevent them from sticking together.

Let’s now proceed with the preparation of the ragù.

Wash and clean the celery, carrot and onion. Chop them finely. Also take the bacon and chop it very finely too.

Take a saucepan and add two knobs of butter (otherwise use a little extra virgin olive oil), and the chopped onion, carrot and celery. Also add the chopped bacon. As soon as the onion begins to brown slightly, add the minced beef and pork and let it brown for about twenty minutes, stirring often.

Then tone down with a glass of red wine. Let it evaporate and once dry add two tablespoons of tomato paste accompanied by two or three ladles of broth. Let everything cook over low heat for about 2 hours. At the end of cooking, season with salt and add a good grating of black pepper.

Now take a pan and fill it with water. Bring to the boil and add a pinch of salt. After a minute, pour in the tagliatelle and cook them al dente (I recommend). Once cooked, drain them and sauté them in the pan together with the ragù for a couple of minutes to let the tagliatelle absorb all the flavor of the ragù.

Serve the freshly prepared tagliatelle with ragù in a deep tray (tureen) or portion directly. Sprinkle the top of the tagliatelle with plenty of grated Parmigiano Reggiano.