Beef mince tomato sauce (Ragù)

This beef mince tomato sauce is the typical filling of a classic lasagna. One of the most representative sauces of good Italian cuisine. But it works really good also on pasta dishes.

If you are looking for a quick recipe to prepare a proper ragù in less than three hours, stop reading and change recipe. For a gourmet-proof sauce you need patience and time. If you are in a hurry, prepare something else. The best thing is to prepare the ragù at least one day before. Or even a few days before: the flavors will become richer and more intense.

Many variations of the recipe today use a mixture of various cuts and various animals. In reality, once upon a time the recipe was adapted to what you had at home, so there are no “right” amounts for the ragù. However, I suggest to use at least one part of beef and one part of pork sausage, both to provide taste and softness to the meat sauce, and to bring some fat that will make it more tasty.

So here’s my personal process: you have to sear the meat and sauté the vegetables separately. So the meat won’t soak up the water related by the veggies. Additionally, preparing the veggies first and then adding the meat allows you to use only one pot.

Beef mince tomato sauce (Ragù)

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Course: MainCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

3

hours 

Total time

1

hour 

10

minutes

Ingredients

• 200 g / 7 oz beef (ground and mixed)

• 100 g / 3.5 oz pork sausage

• Optional: a few slice of pancetta or lardo (or bacon)

• 300 g Tomato sauce 1 ½ cup

• 1 carrot

• 2 branches of celery

• half an onion

• Olive oil

• Salt, pepper

• Optional: sage leaves, rosemary

How to

• Heat a large pan on medium/high heat. When hot, add the finely grounded pancetta (bacon) if you are using it. Let it become almost translucent.
• Then add the beef and the sausage, and stir until browned on every bit of the meat. Once the beef and pork have become caramelized, remove from the pan and set aside.
• In the same pan, pour a tbsp of olive oil and add carrot, celery and onion chopped very finely. Cook on medium heat until they lose all their water.
• Then reunite the meat with the veggies and add the tomato sauce, all in. If you have them, add some sage leaves and some rosemary.
• Lower the heat to minimum and let the sauce cook for at least 2 hours, but 4 hours would be better. Check from time to time, and if it’s too dry, add some hot water. (Refer to the process photos to see the final consistency)

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Of course, to taste this beef mince tomato sauce at its best, you should pair it with some fresh pasta. Here you can find my recipe for an easy fresh pasta recipe: CLICK HERE!

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