Ragu Bolognese with Homemade Pappardelle
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I love trying new recipes especially classic Italian and French dishes. Here’s my take on Ragu Bolognese with Homemade Pappardelle. This dish simmers on the stove for hours, cooking down to a dense, flavor intense sauce, that’s simply wonderful. Comfort Food, Italian-style.
(Post modified with new photos on 3/29/22.)
I actually tried this recipe three different times before I got it just right. The first time, we didn’t care for the taste. The second time (made with homemade tagliatelle), we liked the taste, but it was overly greasy. The third time was wonderful.
On that experiment, I switched out a paste of bacon and garlic with Italian sausage and garlic, and used ground venison instead of 80% ground beef. However, I’ve also used 90% lean ground beef, or ground round. Plus, I changed the tagliatelle pasta to a pappardelle–a wider noodle, which added even more to the dish’s homey, comforting taste and texture. See my Pasta Dishes Here.
Loved it. Simply loved it. And I often crave it on a cold day.
Ingredients for Ragu Bolognese with Homemade Pappardelle
(See the full recipe at the bottom of this post.)
- medium Italian sausage with casings removed
- ground venison or lean ground beef (90/10)
- extra-virgin olive oil
- butter
- garlic
- sweet onion
- celery
- carrot
- tomato paste
- dry red wine
- kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- whole milk
- freshly ground nutmeg
Ingredients for Fresh Pappardelle Pasta
- Italian 00 flour
- Semolina flour
- kosher salt
- large eggs
- Extra virgin olive oil
- water
- more salt
- freshly grated parmesan and parsley for garnishing
Instructions for Making This Recipe
Gather all your ingredients so that you have things close at hand to use. Prepare your vegetables. Using a knife and cutting board, mince garlic. Using a box shredder or food processor, shred the onion, peeled carrots, and celery. Set aside until ready to use.
Make the Ragu Sauce
In a large Dutch oven, brown the Italian sausage and ground burger. Cook until browned. Place meat in a bowl and set aside. Do not drain the oils and juices.
Returning to the Dutch oven, heat the extra virgin olive oil and butter and add the minced garlic and shredded onion. Cook over medium heat until tender. Add shredded carrots and celery. Cook for an additional two minutes, stirring well. Finally, add the tomato paste and stir-fry for five minutes.
On high heat, add the meat to the vegetable mixture and pour in the wine, stirring frequently for a couple of minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Lower heat to simmer and cover the pot with a lid. Simmer for at least 3 hours, stirring occasionally.
Allow the Bolognese sauce to simmer gently during the cooking time. Add beef stock only if necessary.
After at least three hours, when the sauce is well done, pour the warmed milk over the sauce and stir well. Cook for an additional 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Prepare The Pasta
While the sauce is finishing, prepare the fresh pasta.
In a large stainless steel bowl or floured work surface, stir together the flours and salt. Create a well in the center and add the eggs and olive oil. Gradually mix the egg mixture into the flour using a fork or your fingers, eventually bringing the ingredients together to form a firm dough.
Transfer the dough to a flat surface and knead the dough until it’s smooth, 3-4 minutes. Try to refrain from adding extra flour when kneading as this will give your pasta a floury taste. Dribble a little olive oil over the dough and place in a plastic bag. Allow to rest for 30 minutes.
Divide the pasta in half, returning the extra dough to the bag until ready to use. Flatten one piece of dough with a rolling pin to match the size of your pasta roller. Feed the dough through the machine, using the first setting of your machine (I use a KitchenAid Pasta Roller and mine is 2).
Pass the pasta through once, and then fold it into thirds and pass it through again. After that, continue feeding the pasta sheet through the machine at each level (3, 4, 5…) until you reach the desired thickness. (I like my Pappardelle to be a bit thicker, so I will roll to a 4 or 5.)
When the pasta dough reaches the desired thickness, lay strips of pasta onto a floured surface. Using a pastry wheel or knife cut 1/2″ ribbons that are 12-16″ long. Allow the pasta to dry flat, without touching until ready to use, covering it with a clean tea towel or plastic wrap.
Once the Ragu sauce has finished cooking, heat 4 quarts of water and 2 teaspoons of salt in a large pot. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until al dente or firm to the bite 2-4 minutes, depending on the thickness of your pasta.
Fresh homemade pasta doesn’t require as much cooking time as store bought pasta.
Finishing Touches
Stir freshly grated nutmeg into the sauce. Season with more salt and pepper as desired. (May drain excess fat from the dish, if necessary.) Drain the pasta and carefully fold into the meat sauce.
Place Ragu Bolognese with Homemade Pappardelle in a large serving dish. Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan and fresh parsley. This recipe will serve 4-6 people. Serve with a green salad, such as Spinach Salad with Fig Dressing.
Pair this dish with a favorite Chianti wine or Pinot Noir.
See more Italian Dishes Here. View Main Dish Recipes Here.
Ragu Bolognese with Homemade Pappardelle
Ingredients
- 8 oz. ground Italian sausage removed from casing
- 16 oz. ground venison or lean ground beef 90/10
- 1 tablespoon Extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons butter
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup sweet onion shredded
- 1/2 cup carrot peeled and shredded
- 1/2 cup celery shredded
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
- 4 quarts water
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- Freshly Grated Parmesan and Parsley for garnishing
Homemade Pappardelle
- 1 1/2 cups Italian 00 flour
- 1/2 cup Semolina flour
- 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tablespoons Extra Virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Gather all your ingredients so that you have things close at hand to use.
Prepare the Ingredients
- Prepare your vegetables. Using a knife and cutting board, mince garlic. Using a box shredder or food processor, shred the onion, peeled carrots, and celery. Set aside until ready to use.
Make the Ragu Sauce
- In a large Dutch oven, brown the Italian sausage and ground burger. Cook until browned. Place meat in a bowl and set aside.
- In Dutch oven, heat the extra virgin olive oil and butter and add the minced garlic and shredded onion. Cook over medium heat until tender. Add shredded carrots and celery. Cook for an additional two minutes, stirring well. Finally, add the tomato paste and stir-fry for five minutes.
- On high heat, add the meat to the vegetable mixture and pour in the wine, stirring frequently for a couple of minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Lower heat to simmer and cover the pot with a lid. Simmer for at least 3 hours, stirring occasionally. You want the Bolognese sauce to simmer gently during this cooking time. Add beef stock only if necessary.
- After at least three hours, when the sauce is well done, pour the warmed milk over the sauce and stir well. Cook for an additional 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Prepare The Pasta
- While the sauce is simmering, prepare the fresh pasta.
- In a large stainless steel bowl or floured work surface, stir together the flours and salt. Create a well in the center and add the eggs and olive oil. Gradually mix the egg mixture into the flour using a fork or your fingers, eventually bringing the ingredients together to form a firm dough.
- Transfer the dough to a flat surface and knead the dough until it's smooth, 2-3 minutes. Try to refrain from adding extra flour when kneading as this will give your pasta a floury taste. Dribble a little olive oil over the dough and place in a plastic bag. Allow to rest for 30 minutes.
- Divide the pasta in half, returning the extra dough to the bag until ready to use. Flatten one piece of dough with a rolling pin to match the size of your pasta roller. Feed the dough through the machine, using the first setting of your machine (I use a KitchenAid Pasta Roller and mine is 2). Pass the pasta through once, and then fold it into thirds and pass it through again. After that, continue feeding the pasta sheet through the machine at each level (3, 4, 5...) until you reach the desired thickness. (For this recipe I like to roll to a 4 or 5.)
- When you have the pasta dough to the desired thickness, lay strips of pasta onto a floured surface. Using a pastry wheel or knife cut 1/2" ribbons that are 12-16" long. Allow the pasta to dry flat, without touching until ready to use.
- Once the Ragu sauce has finished cooking, heat 4 quarts of water and 1 tablespoon salt in a large pot. Cook the pasta in boiling salted water until al dente or firm to the bite 2-4 minutes, depending on the thickness of your pasta. Fresh homemade pasta doesn't require as much cooking time as store bought pasta.
Finishing Touches
- Stir freshly grated nutmeg into the sauce. Season with more salt and pepper as desired. (May drain excess fat from the dish, if necessary.) Drain pasta and carefully fold into the meat sauce. Place in a large serving dish. Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan and fresh parsley. Serves 4-6.
Notes
Nutrition
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