…..to which you should add the time to read this article …
4 hours is the time required to cook a ragù properly: less than minimal fire, a few bubbles that rise to the surface without exploding, but opening slightly and whispering.
The sauce of the grandmothers was like that.
Yes sure…. Many will protest because they still do the ragù like this. No concession. Sometimes they do it on Sunday mornings, in large quantities, to be frozen in jars ready for use.
And they are right: nothing can be equated with attention to detail, finely chopped vegetables, the sweetness of the flame, the ladle that turns, the grandmother – or who else – who adjusts it with salt.
Unfortunately our way of life – not in times of pandemic crisis – forces us to speed up. Also the ragù.
Try it, maybe you like it. Obviously, pay attention to the ingredients you choose, from meat to oil, from vegetables to tomatoes, which should be ripe and should not require the addition of sugar.
Ingredients:
Here begins the sore point, because if it is true that everyone claims to have the best recipe for the ragù, it is also true that these “EVERYONE” are many and almost always the ragù is very good.
- What meats? I prefer a combination of beef and pork, both low in fat. If I really want a “tasty” sauce, I add a sausage, always checking its origin (I have homemade ones …).
Glosses::
I know, the real ragù, the original one , was born, like most Italian dishes, from a perfect use and cooking of what was available; it was made with chicken giblets: the intestines well washed and disinfected with lemon, the gizzard opened, emptied, freed from the internal “tripe”, blanched and chopped, the liver, the crest, heart and kidneys.
In the South they love lamb. In Naples, ragù is a festival: a large piece of beef (sorra, bell, cimalino, a muscle with connective tissue that slowly melts, creating a jelly) that cooks shaking for 7/8 hours and that comes apart at the end of cooking . A sauce to which you can add meatballs, rolls … a festival, in fact
We are still in hunting season – if the DPCM ( regulation for pandemic) allows it – : in the countryside it is not uncommon to find superb terracotta with wild boar, roe deer, hare and duck sauces. For game, you know, you need marinating and…. dedication. And here we can’t shorten the time… I’m sorry
Let’s stick to the simple, available and everyday.
- I don’t like putting garlic in it, which can be a personal variation to add when the chopped vegetables are already cooked; it is cooked for a minute before adding the meat.
- Other flavors: some like rosemary, I prefer a bay leaf.
Second glosses: I loved my grandmother’s cooking, what I just couldn’t stand was the meat sauce when she added a piece of lemon zest and a clove. Those two aromas in the sauce exploded in my mouth and, although they had been added in a moderate way, as my grandmother was moderate, my sense of taste as a child made me feel them preponderant and I did not like the sauce.
- The wine in the sauce for me is only red.
- The tomato: the preserve is fine, which is concentrated tomato, generally obtained from dried tomatoes, such as the Sicilian Astratto; the concentrate should be used diluted in the broth. I prefer peeled tomatoes to puree – which obviously must be passed through a vegetable mill also to remove the seeds – because they contain more water and the cooking takes a little longer. If you want to use fresh tomatoes, perhaps from your garden, blanch them in boiling water, cut them into large pieces and pass them through a vegetable mill. As usual, I have the homemade tomato sauce.
Let’s recap, with the doses:
For 4 people
a small onion, a small carrot, a stalk of celery
150 gr lean beef minced
100 gr lean pork mince or: 60 gr fresh pulp and one sausage
One good glass of red wine, 200 ml
50 gr extra virgin olive oil
600 gr canned tomatoes
one bay leaf
Salt and pepper ( the quantity of salt is related to the presence of the sausage, which is already salty)
another onion, carrot, celery stalk for one liter f broth to keep next to you, handy for use.
For the vegetal broth:
If you like aromatic flavors, you can put a couple of pieces of dried porcini in the hot broth when it is ready (20 minutes of boiling are enough, the salt only at the last). They will add flavor and color to the broth. You can then chop the mushrooms finely and add them to the sauce together with the tomato
And now let’s start with the faster procedure, also because you have already wasted time reading this far.
Little tricks to speed up
Let’s start with the chopped onion, carrot, celery .. They should be finely chopped. Try not to use the mixer because more than making a mince, it makes a puree. Of course the knife steals a little more time, so the 40 minutes get longer …. However, the result is better than with any other chopper, reel or other small manual or electric tool.
We heat the extra virgin oil. I wrote “heat”, so be careful not to burn it. It must be just a little warm. Please don’t get to the smoke point which is 168-170 ° c
Add the chopped vegetables and a pinch of salt, which helps to bring out their water. Low fire. Let “” sweat “. This first phase is one of the longest: it will take at least 12 minutes, stirring occasionally and gradually adding half a ladle of broth. Until they become like this::
it is fundamental: by lengthening the initial times, the total times are shortened
Add the meat, turning it with a ladle and “shelling” it to break the lumps that would otherwise form. This is a quick step, 3 to 5 minutes, until the meat is gray.
Then it is the turn of the wine. Much. Obviously increasing the wine lengthens the cooking times, because you have to wait until it has completely evaporated before adding the tomato. 8-10 minutes
And we’re 27 minutes away… in the worst cases.
When you no longer smell the wine, add the tomato, the bay leaf, half a ladle of broth, turn it over and put the lid on. We leave it alone for 5 minutes then turn it over and taste it to adjust the salt.
We put the lid back on, medium heat. Another 8 minutes. I think he’s ready. Taste it.
Marcella Ansaldo