How to make classic Bolognese sauce at home

You’ve escaped the herds of gelato-clutching tourists crossing Florence’s famed Ponte Vecchio (old bridge), and resisted the urge to buy a pair of shorts emblazoned with the privates of Michelangelo’s marble David, or an “I Love Florence” fridge magnet.

The hubbub melts away. You find yourself on a narrow street, palazzi on either side, offering shade from the ferocious midday sun. Here’s a restaurant — a trattoria with a dozen or so tables, a low, brick ceiling. Is that the chef you hear singing Neapolitan love songs in the kitchen?

Pasta sounds good. You order the ragu alla Bolognese.

It’s just pasta. Oh, but it’s not. It’s like nothing you’ve ever tasted. The sauce is rich, but not too rich. The San Marzano tomatoes — sweet, but not acidic. The spaghetti, arranged in a little spiral tower, is neither too soft nor too hard. If you weren’t so worried about looking like a pig, you’d order a second helping.

Back at home, you think: I wonder if I could make that dish?

Online, there’s a debate about how Bolognese should be served, with the mayor of Bologna, Italy, declaring his disgust for what the British half-jokingly call “Spag Bol.”

You’re in America now. You can make ragu alla Bolognese any way you please, right? 

Sure, but it’s best to respect the recipe and its roots, several local chefs suggest.

“You can kind of slop it all together and create something that’s passable that I don’t think is very good; it ends up being of a Sloppy Joe consistency,” said Bob Broskey, executive chef/partner at RPM Italian, 52 W. Illinois.

“But it’s not the star of the show,” he said. Top billing goes to the beef short ribs, which bubble in Italy’s famed Barolo wine as it braises in the oven for three hours — and then paired with freshly made pasta.

“We want to put a Bolognese on the menu, but how do we make it ours? How do we not do the same thing as everybody else?” Broskey said.

Chef Sarah Grueneberg at the West Loop’s Monteverde restaurant, 1020 W. Madison, found inspiration for her ragu from traveling extensively in Italy and working in the now-shuttered Spiaggia kitchen under the tutelage of Michelin-starred Chef Tony Mantuano.

“It was always kind of a big project. We would build up enough trim of prosciutto and different meats and make a big batch. It would cook all day,” said Grueneberg, calling it a “big pot of love.”

In the Monteverde kitchen, Grueneberg says she’s always “tinkering” with her ragu, never quite making it the same way twice. It’s about “layering” flavors in the pot.

“Always, Parmigiano rind has to go into the sauce and it has to be finished with a little bit of cream or milk,” she said.

She recently returned from a trip that included a stop at Florence’s Buca Lapi restaurant, where the chef sprinkled in fennel pollen, giving his ragu a “light anise flavor.”

Grueneberg also makes a vegetarian version.

“You can achieve a lot of the same feelings without the meat, using different types of mushrooms. ... When you taste it, it’s complex. It has notes of wine and tomato and dairy, and earthiness from mushrooms — a very soul-satisfying dish,” she said.

Piccolo Sogno Chef Tony Priolo grew up on the Northwest Side. His Sicilian-American grandmother — with little Tony in tow — would take three buses to get to all the places she needed for her grocery shopping.

“She taught me that it’s really important to get the right ingredients, no matter what it takes,” Priolo said during a recent chat from his eatery at 464 N. Halsted. “Because Italian food is simple. So if you start with getting the best ingredients, then it’s not going to be wrong.”

Bolognese, he said, is perfect for a fall day. Beef, pork, veal, ground-up chicken livers all find their way into his pot — and a little béchamel sauce to “bind it together.”

Chef Jourdan Higgs of Provar, located at 1523 W. Chicago in West Town, serves his guests a vegan Bolognese. It’s made with, among other ingredients, Impossible meat. The mayor of Bologna probably wouldn’t approve.

“It falls in line with our whole motto: Be ready to try,” said Higgins, whose food is a fusion of Italian and Creole flavors.

Shallots, fresh basil, cherry tomatoes and creole seasonings hit the pan, too, in Higgins’ sauce.

“Those shallots and that fresh basil — that really just hits it off, brings the flavor forward,” he said. “People have to try it and check it out. You’d be surprised. They’d be like, ‘There’s no way this is not meat.’’’

But what would his Sicilian grandfather make of it? If he were here today, Higgins said he’d try to trick him.

“Once they ate it and enjoyed it, then I’d hit them with the: I just want to let you know that wasn’t meat, that was plant based. [They’d say] ‘Oh, you made me a believer.’”

Try these Chicago chef-created recipes for Bolognese sauce at home:

Short Rib Bolognese with Hand-cut Pappardelle

(Courtesy RPM Italian)

Yield: Serves 4 to 6

INGREDIENTS

• 250 grams (approximately 2 cups) “00” fine flour, plus more as needed

• 10 large egg yolks

• 5 pounds boneless beef short ribs

• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

• ¼ cup grapeseed oil

• 1 large onion, chopped

• 4 cloves garlic, chopped

• one 15-ounce can tomato puree

1 quart chicken stock

• ¼ cup olive oil

• 6-8 whole roasted tomatoes (or 15 oz. can fire-roasted whole tomatoes)

• 4 tablespoons (half stick) unsalted butter, cubed and chilled

• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley, plus more for garnish

• 1 cup grated pecorino romano cheese, plus more for garnish

DIRECTIONS

For the papardelle pasta:

1. Place the flour in a mound on a board or in a medium bowl, making a well in the center. Add egg yolks, lightly breaking them up. Using your fingers, gently stir the yolks from the middle of the well outwards, gradually adding more flour bit by bit into the egg.

2. Once flour is just incorporated, form dough into a ball and knead on a lightly floured work surface, adding more flour as needed. Continue kneading until dough is smooth and shiny, about 10 minutes.

3. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour.

4. Dust the work surface and rolling pin with flour. Starting from the center of the dough, roll it out in a large rectangle about 1/8” thick.

5. Fold sheet in half twice, then using a large, sharp knife, cut the dough into ¾” wide pappardelle noodles. Toss noodles with semolina or cover with a lightly damp kitchen towel to prevent sticking if not cooking right away.

6. Just before serving, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, add the pasta and quickly cook until pasta rises to the surface, about 15 seconds. Test that pasta is al dente then drain. 

For the short rib ragu:

1. Preheat the oven to 300°F. Season the short ribs with salt and black pepper on all sides.

2. In a large dutch oven over medium-high heat, add 1⁄4 cup grapeseed oil and sear the meat on both sides until caramelized. Add the onion and garlic, cooking until translucent.

3. Add the tomato puree and chicken stock; bring to a boil. Cover and braise the short ribs in the oven for 3 hours.

4. Remove the meat from the sauce and shred into l” pieces; reserve both the meat and the ragu sauce separately.

Combine the ragu with the pasta:

1. In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and 1 teaspoon coarse black pepper. Add in approximately 2 cups reserved braised short rib and the roasted tomatoes, stirring to break up. Add 1 1⁄2 cups reserved ragu, 4 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons chopped parsley; stir to combine.

2. Gently add in the cooked pappardelle, tossing to coat.

3. Sprinkle in 1 cup grated Pecorino cheese; season to taste with salt and pepper.

4. Divide the Bolognese among 4-6 shallow pasta bowls. Garnish each with more parsley, Pecorino and black pepper.

Ragu di Bolognese

(Courtesy Picolo Sogno)

Yield: Serves 6

INGREDIENTS:

• 8 ounces ground beef

• 8 ounces ground veal

• 8 ounces ground pork

• 4 ounces chicken livers (chopped or ground)

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 fresh bay leave

• 2 medium carrots, finely chopped

• 1 small red onion, finely chopped

• 3 ribs celery, finely chopped

• 1 sprig rosemary

• 1 sprig thyme

• 36 ounces San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand

• 4 ounces heavy cream

• 1.5 ounces sea salt

• ¹⁄₄ ounces black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a braising pot, heat the olive oil (on high heat) and sauté the carrots, red onions and celery and the fresh herbs.
2. When the vegetables have been quickly sautéed, add the ground beef, pork and veal. Season with sea salt and pepper. Lightly brown, stirring occasionally (the meat might lump together; so if it does, mash it with a potato masher).
3. After the meat and vegetables have been cooked until lightly browned (for about 10 minutes), add the crushed tomatoes and bring to a boil.
4. Then turn down to a simmer. Adjust the seasoning and cook about 1.5 hours or until the sauce becomes thick.
5. When it is almost done, add the heavy cream and cook for a couple of moments more. The sauce is better the next day but you can serve immediately if you like.

Traditional Ragu alla Bolognese

(Courtesy Monteverde Chicago)

Yield: Approximately 8 cups

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 cup yellow onion, finely chopped

• ½ cup celery, finely chopped

• ½ cup carrot, finely chopped

• ¾ lb. freshly ground beef chuck

• ¾ lb. freshly ground pork

• ¾ lb. freshly ground Italian sausage

• 4 ounces sliced prosciutto (about 6 slices), chopped

• 1 tsp fennel seed, cracked or ground

• 2 teaspoons Kosher salt

• 1 teaspoon, ground black pepper

• 4 tbsp. Tomato Paste

• 1 cup dry red wine

• 1 28-ounce can crushed Italian tomatoes

• 8 oz chicken stock

• Pinch red chile flakes

• 1 piece of Parmigiano Reggiano rind, optional

• 1 ½ cups whole milk

• 2 tbsp fresh herbs chopped, such as rosemary, thyme, parsley

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat a large heavy-bottomed sauce pot or Dutch oven over medium high heat.

2. Heat olive oil over medium heat, add celery, carrot, onion to the pot, stirring frequently, until soft and lightly browned, about 2-3 minutes.

3. Then add beef, veal , pork and prosciutto, cook until browned. Season pepper and fennel seed.

4. Return heat to medium heat. Stir to break up the meat, free of clumps until lightly browned and beginning to sizzle, about 10 minutes.

5. In a large bowl fitted with a colander, place brown meat and vegetable mixture, allow to drain. Keep about 1 tbsp of drippings in the pot.

6. Place pot back over medium high heat, add the tomato paste and stir to caramelize, about 1 minute.

7. Then deglaze with red wine and reduce by half, use a wooden spoon or rubber spatula to break up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan. Add the can of crushed tomatoes, cook for 5 minutes or until reduced by half.

8. Add chili flake, Parmigiano Reggiano rind and chicken stock, reduce heat to low and cover. Allow to simmer for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.

9. Remove the lid, increase heat to medium. Add the milk and simmer uncovered for another 30-45 minutes, or until thickened.

10. Remove Parm rinds and discard. Stir in fresh herbs. Serve with tagliatelle pasta or your favorite pasta shape! Bolognese will hold refrigerated.

Vegan Bolognese

(Courtesy, Provaré)

Yield: 4 people 

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 chopped shallots 
• 12 oz. Impossible meat
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup fresh basil
• 1 (15-oz.) can tomato sauce
• 3 tbsp. tomato paste
• 2 cups cherry tomatoes 
• 1 cup diced bell peppers 
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup Italian seasoning (salt free)
• 3/4 tsp. Tony Creole Seasoning 
• Freshly ground black pepper and salt to taste 

DIRECTIONS:

1. Sauté shallots and bell peppers in extra virgin olive oil and salt and pepper. Then add minced garlic. 
2. After cooking for 5 minutes, add Impossible meat. Add the Tony seasoning to the mixture while you fully cook everything in the pan.
3. Then add the tomato paste and then the tomato sauce and cherry tomatoes. Bring to a boil and then simmer.
4. Add in the Italian seasoning, bay leaf and salt and pepper to taste.
5. Let simmer for 1-2 hours.
6. Once it’s ready, cook up your favorite pasta and then top it with your vegan Bolognese.