Do you like Bolognese sauce? Do you order it when you go to Italian restaurants? If you do, chances are you’re not getting an authentic Bolognese experience, what you are getting is probably spaghetti drowned in a meat sauce. The authentic recipe, on the other hand calls for much less sauce so the pasta remains the true star of the dish and a wider pasta than spaghetti such as tagliatelle because it does a better job holding on to the sauce.
One restaurant that does tend to respect tradition and serves an authentic bolognese is Luigia — and yes, those of you who’ve read some of my previous posts will probably know that I’m quite partial to that particular establishment. And I have to say, their bolognese is yet another dish I am quite fond of even though I do order it with spaghetti — big no-no…
Pictured below: Luigia’s spaghetti bolognese.
According to Wikipedia, the authentic recipe calls for the following ingredients:
- 300 g beef cartella (thin beef skirt)
- 150 g pancetta, dried
- 50 g carrot
- 50 g celery stalk
- 50 g onion
- 5 spoons tomato sauce or 20 g triple tomato puree
- 1 cup (250 mL) whole milk
- Half cup of still, dry white or dry red wine
- Salt and pepper, to taste
The milk definitely gives it great taste and texture and makes it a much richer dish than we typically get when we order bolognese on a night out in Geneva.