Very cool that you got this recipe from them. I've never made proper bolognese and thus never put milk into a sauce like this. Thus have a couple of questions: 1) What type of milk is best? (I've seen cream mentioned, but not sure if regular whole milk is more traditional?) 2) Any idea how much milk to add relative to the other ingredients? (same for the stock?) Appreciate and advice you have or memory from your conversation with them. Thanks!
I am attempting a traditional bolognese today for the first time. I read this thread and found 3 recipes, and also googled 3 recipes. I was a bit surprised to see the variation out there. I compiled a spreadsheet to help me zero in on the most common ingredients and thought I'd share it here for discussion. I've attached a pdf of the spreadsheet with all the details, but will type a quick summary here too. Btw, I'm only focused on the ingredients themselves, and not the portions or relative portions just yet... Here is what I found (the # listed next to each ingredient is how many of the 6 total recipes I compared had that ingredient): Meats: Beef 5 (the 1 recipe without beef, used veal instead) Pork 4 (4 recipes had both beef and pork) Lamb 1 (1 recipe had beef, pork and lamb) Veal 1 (was the 1 recipe that did not have beef) Ingredients that were always or nearly always in each recipe: Onion 6 Celery 6 Carrot 6 Tomatoes 5 (the 1 that didn't have tomatoes, used only paste) Tomato Paste 4 (2 that didn't use paste, used tomatoes) Salt 6 Pepper 6 Oil 6 Wine 6 (interestingly Lydia used both red and white, 3 others used only white and 2 used only red) Milk 5 (amazingly Lydia did not use any milk. All others used whole milk, and only 1 used cream in addition to milk) Ingredients that were in 3-4 of the 6 recipes: Nutmeg 4 (2 did not use any nutmeg - Lydia and a site called "italian in my kitchen") Butter 4 (the same 2 did not use butter) Stock 3 (this one shocked me, only Lydia and 2 of the F-chat recipes used stock) Rarely used Ingredients: Bacon/pancetta 2 (Lydia and 1 F-chat recipe called for this) Bay Leaf 2 (only Italian in my kitchen and 1 F-chat recipe called for bay leaf) Garlic 1 (only Lydia) My takeaway and plan is to use all ingredients except for pancetta, bay leaf and garlic...also I will likely only find ground beef and pork at my store, so those will be the meats. I may only use tomato paste and maybe a tiny bit of crushed or pureed tomatoes. So my ingredient list: Beef Pork Onion Celery Carrot Tomatos (crushed or puree - small amount if needed) Tomato Paste Salt Pepper Oil Wine (haven't decided on red or white yet) Milk (whole milk) Nutmeg Butter Stock
Mama Roselli's son said that its about consistency vs. amounts - so reduce the stock till you get it that it coats the back of a spoon... as for milk I use Half & Half - i like it a bit creamier... and I think its a bit closer to Italian milk... which is a bit higher fat content than American... use Whole milk at a minimum.
The color of the sauce should be light brownish... touch of pink.. not Red or creamy red... the caramelization of the meat and carrots give the color... stock is the juice and the milk body..... if you really want it great - non traditional but add a big cube of cold butter at the very end off the heat and fold it in, and serve... make is very silky.
Thanks for the tips/advice everyone. I went with this recipe/ingredients (pdf of the details below in attached to the post): https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/posts/148343793/ Finished product (I also made a portion with tomato sauce for my wife who preferred it that way): https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/posts/148344214/ We made thicker/less wide noodles (fettuccine-like) one night: Image Unavailable, Please Login And thinner/broader noodles (pappardelle-like another night: Image Unavailable, Please Login
Never heard milk in the sauce ? Never seen or even heard of it down under. Actually we dont even use celery or carrots. Actually its a bit of a joke down here , the skips ( Aussies English background ) are the only ones that add celery and carrots. The secret is to use mixed meats , beef , veal and pork. Have bone marrow in there also. Usual , onion, garlic , tomato sauce bottled ( home made better ) Canned peeled tomato's, tomato paste, salt , pepper , wine, basil. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Emilia Romagna would normally have celery and carrot but I have never seen any with milk added. Our family hates the carrot and celery. From Rome and Sicily
This sauce is the most delicious and tasty ever! I come from Rome and my dear departed Mamma never put carrot and celery in the sauce but she did add mixed pork and veal mince, red wine and a little butter to make it richer
Frankly I don't think you will find a uniform/one size fits all way to make a Bolognese....you will always get some variation in the recipe even within my home (Emilia-Romagna)...in Parma we make it slightly different than Bologna, which is slightly different than Rimini etc etc. Try multiple recipes and see what suits your taste best. As far as the holy trinity (celery, carrots, onions), that is the base for many sauces in Emilia-Romagna as well as other parts of Northern Italy, and in some places not at all. My Nonna & Mother never put milk in their Bolognese, only beef or veal, never pork. I don't believe there is a right OR wrong way/recipe....I mean it's not like someone dropping cream in a Carbonara!!
I second this post. To most Americans there is "Italian food", but to Italians there is no such universal term. Forget the regional differences, there can be differences in recipes between two neighboring towns. I come from a large Italian family that came from several towns in southern and central Italy. You wouldn't believe how differently each family made their sauce, let alone all the other dishes. The key is it is all made with fresh quality ingredients and made with devotion and love. The different sauces tasted differently to me, but they all tasted great, just different. Looking at all the pics in this thread and the accompanied recipe, I can tell you I would be thrilled to have anyone of them to be served to me!
Technically, Italians consider bolognese sauce a very thick and heavy meat sauce made with a very carmelized sofrito. What most Americans call bolognese sauce, as well as many posters on this thread, is considered ragu in Italy.
