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About Classic Ragù Bolognese:
Classic Ragù Bolognese is fundamentally a slow-braised meat sauce bound with dairy and wine, rather than a heavy tomato sauce with ground meat tossed in.
In Bologna, the sauce begins with a finely minced soffritto of onion, carrot, and celery cooked gently in butter and oil, followed by beef and pork simmered until spoon-tender. Tomatoes play strictly a supporting role, adding subtle acidity and color rather than bold tomato flavor.
The hallmark technique—canonized by Italian culinary legend Marcella Hazan—is simmering whole milk directly into the browned meat until it evaporates before adding the wine and tomatoes. The lactic acid and butterfat break down and tenderize the meat fibers, shielding them from the tomato acid and creating an exceptionally velvety emulsion.
While "spaghetti bolognese" became a worldwide comfort-food icon, purists in Emilia-Romagna serve it over wide, fresh egg tagliatelle or layered into lasagna verde. The rough, porous surface of fresh egg pasta holds onto the rich, fine mince of the ragù far better than slick, dried spaghetti.
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