Tagliatelle al Ragu

Recipe courtesy Mario Batali, 2001

Show: Mario Eats ItalyEpisode: Tagliatelle al Rag�/Pasta is Truth

Rated: 4 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (13)

RECIPE
COMMENTS & REVIEWS(13)

Cook Time:
2 hr 30 min
Level:
--
Yield:
4 servings

Times:

Prep: 30 min
Inactive Prep: --
Cook: 2 hr 30 min
Total:: 3 hr 0 min

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Ingredients

1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup butter
1 cup onions, chopped small
1/2 cup celery, chopped small
1/4 cup carrots, chopped small
1/4 pound pancetta, ground (you can ask your butcher to do this)
1 pound veal
1/2 pound ground beef
1 pound ground pork
2 cups whole milk
1 cup white wine
1/2 cup tomato paste
Tagliatelle, recipe follows
Parmigiano-Reggiano

Directions

In a large Dutch oven or saucepan, add olive oil and butter and heat. Add onions, celery and carrots and cook until very soft and beginning to caramelize. Mix together all of the meats. Add the meats to the pan and begin to brown. When the meat begins changing color and releasing its own liquids, add the milk. Cook until the milk is almost totally evaporated--it should just be moist around the edges of the meat, about 15 minutes. Add the wine. Add the tomato paste and stir well. Bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and cook for 2 hours.

Roll out pasta dough to the thinnest setting on a pasta machine. Cut into strips that are 4-inches wide and 8 inches long. Starting with the 4-inch side, loosely roll the pasta into a tube that is about 4-inches long and 2 1/2-inches wide. Cut the open side into 1/4-inch wide strips. Unroll the pasta and place in small bundles.

Bring 6 quarts of water to a boil. Add salt to the water and return to a boil. Add the tagliatelle and cook for 5 minutes. Drain the tagliatelle and add to the bolognese sauce. Thin with a little pasta water, if necessary. Toss for 1 minute. Immediately serve in warm pasta bowls. Top with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Tagliatelle:

1 3/4 to 2 cups cake flour
1 3/4 to 2 cups all-purpose flour
4 eggs

Mound 3 1/2 cups of the flour in the center of a large wooden cutting board. Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the eggs and the olive oil. Using a fork, beat together the eggs and oil and begin to incorporate the flour, starting with the inner rim of the well.

As you expand the well, keep pushing the flour up from the base of the mound to retain the well shape. The dough will come together when half of the flour is incorporated.

Start kneading the dough with both hands, using the palms of your hands. Once you have a cohesive mass, remove the dough from the board and scrape up and discard any leftover bits. Lightly reflour the board and continue kneading for 6 more minutes. The dough should be elastic and a little sticky. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. Roll or shape as desired.

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Comments & Reviews

recipe Tagliatelle al Ragu
Ray Tampa, FL 10-31-2009
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Warning: Flawed Recipe
Rated: 2 stars out of 5

I just got back from Bologna, and wanted to duplicate the incredible meal I had at a simple sidewalk trattoria. No, Mario's... version wasn't actually horrible, but nothing like the real thing, and very disappointing considering the amount of butter, oil, and meat he calls for. Not much bang for the amount of fat, and it was excessively greasy! Also, it says it serves 4, but I would say 10 would be more accurate. Imagine 3 pounds of meat and a stick of butter serving 4 people! Maybe 4 lions. Also worth mentioning that the Italians use minced lean meats, not the typical fatty ground meats you find here, so maybe it isn't all Mario's fault...but he should have specified lean beef, minced not ground. One final criticism.....the recipe mentions no garlic or spices and only 1/2 cup tomato paste. Trust me...it was necessary to add some garlic, oregano, nutmeg, and quite a bit more tomato sauce just to turn it into a mediocre sauce. Read more
recipe Tagliatelle al Ragu
rosemary harpers ferry, WV 06-04-2009
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Outstanding
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

I LOVE THIS SAUCE, it does take some time, freezes great, make several batches and have on hand!!!
recipe Tagliatelle al Ragu
Paula Port ST Joe, FL 10-09-2008
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The most disappointing recipe on Food Network for me
Rated: 1 stars out of 5

This sauce was terrible. I only hope there was a typo in the ingredients. I read all reviews before making it, but followed... recipe exactly anyway. It is swimming in grease and does not need all that butter and oil, especially with 1 lb. of ground pork. I used 1 lb. pork, 1/2 lb. veal and 1 lb. grouind chuck. That was what I had. I made it a day before we ate it and should have degreased it before heating. I tasted it and added some salt, fresh grated nutmeg and about 1 c. of marinara sauce I had left over. Anything to try to balance the grease!!! My husband ate it but did not say anything. He always raves about my dishes. He especially loves Bolognese sauce, too. My favorite is still Marcella Hazan's Meat Sauce, Bolognese Style from her Classic Italian Cookbook., p. 127. Forgive me Mario, I am not indicting you as a Chef, but want to spare future cooks from wasting money on the ingredients for this dish.Read more
recipe Tagliatelle al Ragu
Christine Cambridge, MA 01-14-2008
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Fabulous, but...
Rated: 4 stars out of 5

This was fablulous and I will make it again, but be forwarned this is not the familiar Italian/American tomato sauce with... meat. This sauce is all about meat and fat (oil, butter, meat drippings). Utimately, the fat provides the primary source of moisture for the thick meat mixture and the pasta. You will barely notice tomato. I understood what I was getting into ... be sure you do too! Next time I will begin with less butter/oil in the pan. You can't carmelize veggies when they are swimming in a cup of fat. They just simmer. (I sauteed a few more onions and carrots in a side pan to get that richness back into the sauce.) I recommend starting with a few Tbs fat, then adding the remaining fat when all the veg browning is complete. After reading many bolognese recipes (including other Mario recipes), I decided to add a few flavors. A couple cloves of garlic near the end of the veg saute, a touch of fresh thyme and crushed red pepper added at the simmer. I also added a bit of freshly ground cinnamon and nutmeg. May sound odd, but it's fantastic and other recipes do this. (Again, this isn't a tomato sauce. It's something completely different). The written recipe is vague about burner temperatures, covered vs uncovered. You'll need a fairly high heat to cook off the milk, especially with all that fat in the pan. I kept the pan partially covered during the long simmer at the end. You may need to occasionally add water if the meat mixture gets too dry during the long simmer (other recipes tell you this). I used my favorite very wide, very deep stainless steel sautee pan. I think it would be difficult with a narrower, taller pot.Read more
recipe Tagliatelle al Ragu
Kathy Stow, OH 11-11-2007
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WOW - Great Meal
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

We were having guests over for dinner and wanted to make something different - yet still Italian. This was very easy to make... and was a great hit!Read more
recipe Tagliatelle al Ragu
Anonymous 06-25-2007
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Back to Bologna
Rated: 5 stars out of 5

This is authentic Tagliatelle Bolognese. It was RIGHT ON, my fiance and I could not BELIEVE how well it turned out! I ate... this everyday while I was in Bologna, and never thought I'd be able to recreate it at home! But I can! As an avid seeker of authentic Italian food, and frequent visitor to Italy, this recipe will remain in my arsenal FOREVER! THANKS MARIO!!!Read more