Pappardelle al ragù Bolognese
There is an official recipe, decreed by the City of Bologna, of the ragù alla Bolognese, which essentially serves as what is described below. (I added the garnish of cheese at the end.) There are many interpretations of this dish, and even stronger opinions on what classifies as an authentic ragù alla Bolognese; however, the general consensus remains that this is a meat sauce with a tomato element, not a tomato sauce with meat.
GATHER (5-6 servings)
Pappardelle (homemade, or one box, about 500g)
Skirt steak (500g)
Yellow onion (100g)
Celery (100g)
Carrot (100g)
Pancetta (225g)
Tomato paste (about 50-60g)
Whole milk (2 cups)
White wine (about ¾ of a bottle)
Beef stock (about 1.5 to 2 cups)
Salt
Pepper
Olive oil
Grana Padano or Parmigiano Reggiano, for garnish
ASSEMBLE
Assemble your soffritto by finely chopping (or processing) 100g each of onion, celery, and carrot.
Clean 225g of pancetta, and chop (or grind) and add to the soffritto.
Grind (or very finely chop) 500g of skirt steak.
Preheat an oven to 150C or 300F.
In a large pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat, add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pot generously. When shimmering, add the soffritto. Generously salt. Cook this for about 7-10 minutes, or until the soffritto is softened and all the moisture has evaporated.
Add the ground skirt steak. Cook for about 3-4 minutes, or until the moisture has evaporated and the skirt steak begins to brown.
Add 50 to 60g of tomato paste, and reduce the heat if necessary to avoid burning. Cook for an additional 1 to 2 minutes.
Add 3/4 a bottle of white wine, and reduce by half to burn off the alcohol.
Add 1.5 to 2 cups of beef stock, and place inside the oven uncovered. Simmer for about 3.5 to 4 hours.
Every 45 to 60 minutes, remove the pot, add a portion of the milk, and stir to incorporate. Place back in the oven and continue to cook. Repeat this until the milk is completely used.
Adjust if necessary by adding additional stock or water to ensure the sauce doesn’t completely reduce until the end of your desired cook time.
At the end of cooking, remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Either place in a container and allow to cool completely before storing in a refrigerator, or continue to the next step.
Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. If using dried pasta, follow the instructions on the box and subtract two minutes from the cook time.
In a saucepan, add about 1.5 cups of the ragù, about 1 tablespoon of butter per person, and 1 generous ladle of pasta water and simmer over medium heat until the entire mixture has started to combine. (If you wish, cook any type of dried pasta and save the water to use for this.)
If using fresh pappardelle, drop the pasta in the boiling water now and cook for 45 seconds.
With tongs, immediately remove the pappardelle and place in the sauce. Toss and stir to combine, and add additional pasta water if needed and reduce.
Plate and serve immediately, and garnish generously with Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano.
TO GATHER (Pasta Dough, about 3 servings)
300g of 00 flour
245g of egg yolks (about 18 eggs)
Room temperature water (to bring egg mixture to 245g, if needed)
TO ASSEMBLE (Pasta Dough)
In a large bowl, place 300g of 00 flour and create a well for the egg yolks.
With the bowl tared on a scale, begin placing the egg yolks in the well. If you don’t quite make 245g of eggs, add enough water to make up the difference.
With a fork, gradually mix small amounts of flower into the egg mixture in a circular mixture until an unrefined, shaggy mixture forms.
Place the mixture on a clean surface, and begin kneading for 10 minutes. At the end of 10 minutes, the ball of dough should be smooth and bounce back when poked. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for at least 1 hour.
Once rested, unwrap the dough and cut into quarters (see photo below) and take one quarter and flatten with your hands.
Using the widest setting (0) on your pasta machine, pass the dough through the pasta machine. (If the dough feels sticky, add a little bit of flower.)
Laminate the dough by folding in thirds (see photo below) and pass through perpendicular to the pasta machine on its widest setting. Do this lamination process three more times, and fold to ensure the pasta is as wide as the pasta machine. (You want this to be as wide as possible.)
Decrease the thickness by turning the knob to setting 1, and pass the sheet of pasta through twice. Continue this process, moving up to setting 6.
Cut the sheet in half, and fold. (See photos below.) With a knife or pasta cutter, cut each folded piece into thirds. Unfold, dust with flower, stack on top of each other, and place on a flowered sheet and cover. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.
