Bologna la dotta, Bologna la grassa

Bologna has been called "la dotta" (the erudite) for centuries, since it hosts one of the oldest (someone say the oldest) existing universities in Europe. According to historians, it was founded in 1088, originally being focused on law related studies.

However, not so many people know that it's also called "la grassa" (the fat), due to its cuisine, which is rich of delicious dishes and characteristic recipes. I wanna share one of those with you, the way that I make it. And what could be more characteristic about Bologna than the well known Ragu'?

Please, note that I'm just giving you the recipe of the ragu' itself (the way I cook it); you can then decide yourself how to use it. My advice is to make Lasagne or to cook some pasta (preferably some curly type of pasta, like shells or fusilli, so that the sauce sticks well to it, or, at worst, penne) and put the ragu' on top. I also suggest that you make a lot of ragu' and put whatever you're not using right away in some plastic jars and freeze it. It last really for a long time in the refrigerator, and when you need it, you just need to defrost it a few hours earlier.

Ragu' alla bolognese

Ingredients: 2lbs of ground meat (pork, preferably), 2 onions (the yellow ones), 2-3 carrots, a couple of sticks of celery (if you like it), a third of a cup of oil, 1/4 lb of butter a glass of red wine, crushed tomatoes, milk, cloves (I use the whole cloves, not grounded), bay leaves (I use grounded bay leaves), broth, salt and pepper.

Preparation: it's probably easier if you use a wok, but even a medium size pot will work. First of all cut in small pieces the onions, the carrots and the celery (if you like it); after having melted the butter with the oil in the pot, add the onions and the carrots (and the celery) you just cut. Turn the stove knob to a medium-low level. After a few minutes (about 10), the onions should have browned a bit. Add the meat, trying to separate it into small lumps with the aid of a wooden or plastic cooking spoon. Let the meat brown for 30 minutes, giving it a stir every few minutes.

While you wait the meat to brown, you can prepare a cheap broth (if you don't have it already) by boiling some water (3-4 cups) with one of those beef boullion cubes (like knorr has).

When the 30 minutes have passed, add the glass of red wine (I suggest a cabernet) and wait until it evaporates completely. Then add the crushed tomatoes (about half a cup) and the spices. There's no rule...no, I rephrase: I have no rule about how many cloves (about 1 tablespoon?), how much bay leaves powder (about 1 tablespoon?), how much salt (1 tea spoon) or pepper (1 tea spoon?) to add, but don't be too stingy with those. You will find with experience the dosages that fit with your tastes. Stir everything and then cook it for 1 and a half hour putting the stove knob to a low level, adding (when needed) some broth.

At this point, your ragu' is basically done, but I suggest you to add a little bit of milk (1/3 of a cup or less), to tie the whole sauce together.

Note: if you freeze your ragu', I suggest you to put it in a pan to simmer for a couple of minutes before adding it to your pasta or lasagne. By the way, this way you can also add some crushed tomatoes if you notice that your ragu' is not enough for your recipe.

Taking it to another level

Alright, so far I was just kidding. But now I wanna give you guys a real recipe. As most of my recipes, the measures are not rigorous, since when you love to cook, you just "go by eye", like we say in Italy; but I always try to give reasonable numbers. You will better them with experience. Also, they (the recipes) usually don't have a name. This one I will call it "Pasta with broccoli". The best type of pasta would be "Orecchiette" (literally, small ears), but also something else like medium shelves or penne will be ok. However, don't do this recipe with "spaghetti" or some "smooth" pasta. Imho, it would lose 30% of his awesomeness.

Pasta with broccoli


Ingredients (2 people): green broccoli (2 bushes), breadcrumbs (1/2 cup), red pepper (whole is better but grounded still works), oil, salt, pasta (2/5 Lb).

Preparation:first of all fill a pot with water, enough to boil the broccoli and the pasta inside. When the water boils, add salt (a fist of the coarse one should be fine). Then cut the broccoli bushes in small pieces, but not too small; you can cut the small branches from the main one and that will be about the right size. Of course, you can boil also the main branch. After about 5-6 minutes, you can add the pasta and wait for it to be cooked (follow instructions on the box; usually is around 10 minutes). While the pasta is cooking, put the breadcrumbs in a small pan and toast them, watching out not to burn them (it should take 1-2 minutes, depending on how hot you turn your stove). Also, in another pan, put some oil (1/4-1/3 of a cup) and fry the red peppers for a couple of minutes. If you like them, you might also cut in half a few cherry tomatoes and add them to the red peppers in the pan.

Here, the quantity of peppers to use depends on how much you like spicy food. As a rule of thumb, I would say one of the small ones per person. If you have grounded red pepper, well, 2-3 sprinkles should be ok. When the pasta is done, strain it. Then put the pasta with the broccoli back in the pot and then add the oil and the red pepper on top. Add also the toasted breadcrumbs and stir everything. Your pasta with broccoli is ready to be served.

Note: if you have guests and if you have a pan large enough, it's always cool and stylish if you mix all the ingredients in the pan with the oil and the red peppers, maybe making it jump with the fancy wrist movement very common among chefs. Be careful, cause if you try it and spill pasta on the floor, it might not be that cool and stylish...