The Origin Story
This is not the ragù from a jar. This is not spaghetti bolognese. This is the real thing — ragù alla bolognese — a Sunday tradition from Emilia-Romagna that has been simmering in Italian kitchens for centuries.
I learnt this recipe from Nonna Maria, my partner's grandmother, who grew up in Bologna and brought the recipe with her when she migrated to Carlton in the 1960s. In Bologna, ragù is served with fresh tagliatelle, never dried spaghetti. It's a dish built on time and patience — four hours of gentle simmering transforms simple ingredients into something profound.
Nonna insists on three things: milk in the soffritto (it mellows the acidity), proper pancetta (not bacon), and never rushing it. "If you hurry ragù," she says, "it knows."
A Note on Tradition
In 1982, the Accademia Italiana della Cucina registered the official recipe for ragù bolognese with the Bologna Chamber of Commerce. The traditional version uses a mix of beef and pork, white wine, tomato paste (not fresh tomatoes), and milk. It's cooked low and slow, and served with egg pasta — usually tagliatelle or lasagne. What we call "spag bol" in Australia is a distant cousin at best.
Ingredients
For the Soffritto
- 2 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil
- 50g Butter
- 1 large Brown onion, finely diced
- 2 stalks Celery, finely diced
- 1 large Carrot, finely diced
For the Ragù
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150g
Pancetta, diced
Italian deli pancetta, not smoked bacon
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300g
Beef mince (not lean)
Around 20% fat — flavour needs fat
- 200g Pork mince
- 250ml Dry white wine
-
250ml
Whole milk
Nonna's secret — milk balances the acidity and tenderises the meat
-
2 tbsp
Tomato paste (double concentrated)
Traditional uses paste, not fresh tomatoes or passata
- 400ml Beef stock
- 2 Bay leaves
- To taste Salt and black pepper
- Pinch Nutmeg, freshly grated
To Serve
-
500g
Fresh tagliatelle
Or make your own — egg pasta, never dried spaghetti
-
For grating
Parmigiano-Reggiano
Real Parmesan from Emilia-Romagna, aged at least 24 months
Method
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Prepare the soffritto. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large, heavy-based pot over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, and carrot. Cook gently for 12–15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are completely soft and translucent but not browned. This is the flavour foundation.
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Cook the pancetta. Add the diced pancetta to the soffritto and cook for 5 minutes until the fat renders and the pancetta just begins to crisp.
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Brown the mince. Increase the heat to medium-high. Add the beef and pork mince, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. Cook for 8–10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the meat is well browned and any liquid has evaporated. Don't rush this — proper browning builds flavour.
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Add the wine. Pour in the white wine and stir, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Let the wine bubble and reduce by half, about 3–4 minutes. The alcohol needs to cook off completely.
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Add the milk. Pour in the milk and stir well. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the milk has almost completely evaporated, about 10 minutes. This is Nonna's trick — the milk tenderises the meat and mellows the sauce.
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Add tomato and stock. Stir in the tomato paste until evenly combined, then add the beef stock, bay leaves, a pinch of nutmeg, and season with salt and pepper. Stir well.
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Simmer for 3–4 hours. Bring the sauce to a very gentle simmer — just a few bubbles breaking the surface. Partially cover the pot and cook for at least 3 hours, preferably 4, stirring every 30 minutes or so. Add a splash of water or stock if it gets too thick. The ragù should be rich, thick, and deeply flavoured, with the fat glistening on the surface.
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Taste and adjust. After 3–4 hours, taste and adjust the seasoning. The ragù should taste rich, balanced, and complex — not too acidic, not too salty. Remove the bay leaves.
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Cook the pasta. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Cook the fresh tagliatelle for 2–3 minutes until al dente (fresh pasta cooks quickly). Reserve a cup of pasta water before draining.
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Combine and serve. Add the drained pasta directly to the pot of ragù (or transfer the ragù to a large serving bowl). Toss gently, adding a splash of pasta water if needed to loosen the sauce. Serve immediately with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano on top.
Where This Came From
This recipe was taught to me by Nonna Maria Benedetti, my partner's grandmother, who grew up in Bologna and brought this tradition with her to Melbourne in the 1960s. She learnt it from her own mother, who learnt it from hers.
Nonna still makes this every Sunday in her kitchen in Carlton, where the smell of simmering ragù drifts down Lygon Street and makes everyone homesick for a place they've never been. She says the recipe hasn't changed in three generations, except that Australian beef is leaner, so she adds a little more pancetta.
I've adapted her method slightly for Australian measurements and ingredients, but the technique and the spirit of the dish remain exactly as she taught me — with milk, with time, and with no shortcuts.
