This wonderful ragù sauce is rich in flavour and extremely delicious. It might take a bit longer to cook, but the wait and the aroma of the sauce cooking makes it even better!
It requires simple pantry ingredients and it is slowly cooked for hours until it develops the rich taste and meaty texture, then perfectly paired with a generous serving of buttery penne pasta and a handful of Parmesan cheese on top. Definitely a food for the soul.
This is one of my favourite recipes to make for a week day meal (and some amazing leftovers for my husband and I for the next day).
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!
Ingredients:
Instructions:
Measure and prepare all of your ingredients. Clean and cut the vegetables. Finely dice onions, carrots, half a celeriac root - small in size, mince the garlic. Peel and finely dice tomatoes. Dice bacon into small cubes.
Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a large pan and warm it up under medium heat. Add the meat and bacon and stir occasionally to prevent any lumps from forming. You will need to work the mixture with your spatula to break it up into small bits. Cook the meat until it's nice and brown then transfer to a plate.
To the same pan, add 1 tbsp of olive oil. Stir in diced onions and garlic and saute until fragrant and slightly golden.
Add the meat mixture back to the pan, then add tomatoes, tomato pure, finely chopped basil (keep some fresh basil to use as a garnish later) and herbs and saute for an additional 2-5 minutes. Add 1 cup of vegetable stock and wine and bring to a simmer, allowing the alcohol in wine to evaporate completely. Don't cover the lid until all the alcohol has evaporated, otherwise your sauce will turn out slightly bitter.
Add the rest of the vegetable stock and 1 whole bay leaf then cover the pan and reduce the heat to a medium-low. Keep simmering for about 2 hours until the sauce has reduced and it looks rich and hearty.
When the sauce is almost ready, add half a cup of warm milk and allow the sauce to bubble away for 10-15 minutes. This is the perfect time to start cooking your pasta.
Stir in 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese (or more) and remove from the heat while waiting for your pasta to be ready.
Ingredients
Directions
Measure and prepare all of your ingredients. Clean and cut the vegetables. Finely dice onions, carrots, half a celeriac root - small in size, mince the garlic. Peel and finely dice tomatoes. Dice bacon into small cubes.
Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a large pan and warm it up under medium heat. Add the meat and bacon and stir occasionally to prevent any lumps from forming. You will need to work the mixture with your spatula to break it up into small bits. Cook the meat until it's nice and brown then transfer to a plate.
To the same pan, add 1 tbsp of olive oil. Stir in diced onions and garlic and saute until fragrant and slightly golden.
Add the meat mixture back to the pan, then add tomatoes, tomato pure, finely chopped basil (keep some fresh basil to use as a garnish later) and herbs and saute for an additional 2-5 minutes. Add 1 cup of vegetable stock and wine and bring to a simmer, allowing the alcohol in wine to evaporate completely. Don't cover the lid until all the alcohol has evaporated, otherwise your sauce will turn out slightly bitter.
Add the rest of the vegetable stock and 1 whole bay leaf then cover the pan and reduce the heat to a medium-low. Keep simmering for about 2 hours until the sauce has reduced and it looks rich and hearty.
When the sauce is almost ready, add half a cup of warm milk and allow the sauce to bubble away for 10-15 minutes. This is the perfect time to start cooking your pasta.
Stir in 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese (or more) and remove from the heat while waiting for your pasta to be ready.
Variations for the Best Ragu Sauce
This sauce is extremely versatile, you can use any kind of meat you want (as long as it has some fat content, the secret is in the fat) and you can pair it with any kind of pasta – penne, fettuccine, spaghetti etc.
But here are some ways you can really take this ragu sauce to the next level:
- use it as a sauce for homemade gnocchi and top with looots of cheese
- use it in lasagna or if you’re not a fan of pasta, just serve it with rice!
- go al forno style: layer your semi-cooked pasta in a casserole style dish, then add the ragu sauce and another layer of either bechamel sauce or mozzarella cheese on top. Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the pasta is fully cooked and the cheese layer develops a nice golden brown crust. This is going to turn out divine!
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