Bolognese has always been one of my favourites, because when it’s good – it’s really good.

For years I’ve been looking for a recipe that made me say ‘this is it’, but it just didn’t happen for me – until I came up with my own.

It’s based on Antonio Carluccio’s recipe, with quite a few adjustments.

---

Ingredients

Makes 2 – 4 portions, depends on how thick you like the sauce on the pasta
Time: 40 min preparation, 4 – 6 hours cooking

For the Ragù:
50 g butter
50 g pancetta or guanciale
1 large carrot
1 large celery stalk
1 medium onion
1 medium garlic clove
1 teaspoon of dry oregano
100 g minced beef
100 g minced pork
3 tbsp tomato paste
1 glass of dry red wine
1/2 cup beef stock
2 medium-large tomatoes
1 parmesan crust (I normally save some when I finish the parmesan and freeze it until I need it)
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper

To serve:
200-400g fresh or dry egg tagliatelle (100g per person)
Freshly grated Parmesan

---

Instructions

Start with fresh pasta! 💛 Of course you can use store bought, but if you really want to impress (or just treat yourself bc you f*cking deserve it) then you can make your own home made tagliatelle in just half an hour. You can easily make it an hour or so before your bolognese is ready.

---

1.

Prepare: Chop 50 g pancetta or guanciale into about 1 cm size pieces. Then finely chop 1 large carrot, 1 large celery stalk, 1 medium onion, 1 medium garlic clove and roughly chop 2 medium-large tomatoes.

---

2.

Heat 50 g butter in a large pan, add your guanciale or pancetta, carrot, celery, onion, garlic and 1 teaspoon of dry oregano, mix and fry gently for about 10 minutes until fragrant. 

---

3.

Add 100 g minced beef & 100 g minced pork to the pan, season with salt & pepper (just a little, since the pancetta is already quite salty), and stir with a wooden spoon to break them up into small chunks. Cook for about 10 minutes to brown the meat. Stir in 3 tbsp tomato paste – make sure that all of the meat is covered and is now a slight brick-red colour. Add 1 glass of dry red wine and let bubble for a few minutes until the alcohol evaporated and the liquids reduce. 

---

4.

Add 1/2 cup beef stock, 2 medium-large tomatoes, 1 parmesan crust and 1 bay leaf. Cover and leave to simmer on low heat for at least 4 hours. The longer you let it cook the better the taste – I normally cook it for around 4 – 6 hours for the best results. Add more stock if the mixture becomes dry. At the end of the cooking time, get rid of the bay leaves and the parmesan crust and season to taste with salt and pepper.

---

5.

Cook the tagliatelle in boiling salted water (the water should be as salty as the sea!) Until al dente, then drain and mix with the sauce. Serve with freshly grated parmesan.

Enjoy ❤️

---