Best Bolognese in CT

[Austin316]

That isn't Bolognese.

it’s meat sauce...

we call it bolognese but someone else just call it meat sauce. Tastes similar to any other bolognese pasta we’ve had at the restaurants

 

[Ts5034]

I just did this recently because I always wanted to try it. Ralph Cifaretto was a wacko, but his technique with the pasta is good!

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

it’s meat sauce...

we call it bolognese but someone else just call it meat sauce. Tastes similar to any other bolognese pasta we’ve had at the restaurants

Any meat sauce is a ragu. Ragu alla bolognese is a variant. In my experience what distinguishes a bolognese is the use of a soffrito of onion, celery, carrot and garlic, the inclusion of cream, and white wine.

 

[husky99]

These are the 2 recipes i use...

Marcella Hazan’s Bolognese Sauce Recipe

After the death in 2013 of Marcella Hazan, the cookbook author who changed the way Americans cook Italian food, The Times asked readers which of her recipes had become staples in their kitchens Many people answered with one word: “Bolognese.” Ms Hazan had a few recipes for the classic sauce, and...

cooking.nytimes.com

Or

BA’s Best Bolognese

It doesn’t take a lot of ingredients (or a lot of money) to make a classic Bolognese recipe. What it does take, though, is patience for the sauce to achieve the ideal authentic texture. You’re going to go low and slow—it’ll take around 3 hours, but most of that cook time is hands-off.

www.bonappetit.com

Or a mix of both.
Ny times is slow but good

 

[8893]

Any meat sauce is a ragu. Ragu alla bolognese is a variant. In my experience what distinguishes a bolognese is the use of a soffrito of onion, celery, carrot and garlic, the inclusion of cream, and white wine.

Yep, the onion and celery kind of cook in and disappear, but you should be able to detect the carrot.

 

[Austin316]

Any meat sauce is a ragu. Ragu alla bolognese is a variant. In my experience what distinguishes a bolognese is the use of a soffrito of onion, celery, carrot and garlic, the inclusion of cream, and white wine.

I never knew that. I only heard of Ragu as a sauce brand, didn’t realize it was a sauce. My wife is 100% Italian from Jersey and always referred to it as bolognese. I guess we’ll call it Ragu. I guess she’s not very Italian if she doesn’t know her sauces haha maybe that’s why I do most of the cooking

 

[Greathusky]

Someone help me out. Been a year since my grandma passed and I'm missing her Sunday Gravy. Admittedly, hers was not very good.

So, I am desperate for a really good bolognese and have a lot of free time. I want the best one CT has to offer.

Any advice?

Viron Rondo Cheshire.

 

[ColchVEGAS]

Hopefully it's better than Hazan's tomato sauce recipe people rave about which consists of tomatoes, an onion, and a stick of butter.

I made that sauce once based on the rave reviews and was not that impressed. My regular marinara I think is better. It was not bad but I did not get the rave over it. Overall her Essential's cookbook is a very good cookbook though.

 

[ColchVEGAS]

Here is a recipe that I have been using for a couple years and really enjoy. You can substitute beef for venison, but I have only made it with venison. My one and two year old also eat it without complaints.

Venison Bolognese

This venison Bolognese is just like the traditional version with ground venison swapped in for beef. All the rich, comforting goodness remains.

leitesculinaria.com

 

[storrsroars]

Marinara ain't ragú , which ain't Bolognese, which ain't sugo (Sunday sauce).

While that should seem obvious to a cook, I'm having a hard time following the logic of the basic premise of this thread. Granny used to make some kind of meat sauce that was either sugo or bolognese. But Granny was a crappy cook. But I miss Granny. So point me to a place that makes a meat sauce that'll be far better than Granny's, regardless how much or what kind of meat is in it. Did I capture that correctly?

Sorry about OPs loss. As someone who doesn't miss his late mom's cooking one iota, I'd suggest just finding something you like.

 

[superjohn]

Any meat sauce is a ragu. Ragu alla bolognese is a variant. In my experience what distinguishes a bolognese is the use of a soffrito of onion, celery, carrot and garlic, the inclusion of cream, and white wine.

One side of my family origins are Irish and the other side Yugoslavian but my dad lived in Bologna for 5 years so since I was a little kid I was eating Bolognese, Puttanesca, Tortellini, Osso Bucco etc. I ate better in my home than all my Italian friends did.

 

[superjohn]

I made that sauce once based on the rave reviews and was not that impressed. My regular marinara I think is better. It was not bad but I did not get the rave over it. Overall her Essential's cookbook is a very good cookbook though.

I made it once too after reading it's the best tomato sauce ever, I didn't understand how something so basic could be so amazing. It turns out it tasted really basic.

 

[superjohn]

Here is a recipe that I have been using for a couple years and really enjoy. You can substitute beef for venison, but I have only made it with venison. My one and two year old also eat it without complaints.

Venison Bolognese

This venison Bolognese is just like the traditional version with ground venison swapped in for beef. All the rich, comforting goodness remains.

leitesculinaria.com

I would like that, I love venison and anything mushroom.

 

[8893]

Here is a recipe that I have been using for a couple years and really enjoy. You can substitute beef for venison, but I have only made it with venison. My one and two year old also eat it without complaints.

Venison Bolognese

This venison Bolognese is just like the traditional version with ground venison swapped in for beef. All the rich, comforting goodness remains.

leitesculinaria.com

Francesco, the chef/owner of L’Orcio, has made some tremendous special ragus in the almost 20(!) years that they’ve been open. When they used to be open for lunch he would make the special ones more frequently, often using the meat left over from the prior evening‘s dinner. The best one I ever had was his venison one. Somewhat surprisingly given the lack of fat, he made a great one from filet mignon once that also stands as one of the best I ever had.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

One side of my family origins are Irish and the other side Yugoslavian but my dad lived in Bologna for 5 years so since I was a little kid I was eating Bolognese, Puttanesca, Tortellini, Osso Bucco etc. I ate better in my home than all my Italian friends did.

Bologna is an awesome town. Everyone should put on a pair of sweatpants and spend a week eating and drinking there.

 

[8893]

One side of my family origins are Irish and the other side Yugoslavian but my dad lived in Bologna for 5 years so since I was a little kid I was eating Bolognese, Puttanesca, Tortellini, Osso Bucco etc. I ate better in my home than all my Italian friends did.

I’m half-Irish, half-Italian.

A drunk with an attitude problem.

 

[8893]

Bologna is an awesome town. Everyone should put on a pair of sweatpants and spend a week eating and drinking there.

Great eating town and great college town. Liberal bastion of Italy.

 

[ColchVEGAS]

Francesco, the chef/owner of L’Orcio, has made some tremendous special ragus in the almost 20(!) years that they’ve been open. When they used to be open for lunch he would make the special ones more frequently, often using the meat left over from the prior evening‘s dinner. The best one I ever had was his venison one. Somewhat surprisingly given the lack of fat, he made a great one from filet mignon once that also stands as one of the best I ever had.

Some of the best dishes come from the leftovers. My family came from Sicily with quite literally just a mortar and pestle, nothing goes to waste and with some love you can take those cheap cuts of meat and make something special. I still try to use that mentality to this day and often make stocks, soups, and whatever I can with the leftovers.

 

[EROCK CONN]

amici’s in middletown has a good one. I always get it with a meatball and full sausage link on top because I’m italian and i love sausage and meatballs (as long as they are truly home made - not the frozen crap from the distributors)

 

[superjohn]

Bologna is an awesome town. Everyone should put on a pair of sweatpants and spend a week eating and drinking there.

I went not long after graduating college for over 3 weeks traveling Italy in a rental car, unfortunately my dad gave me terrible directions and I couldn't find the places he lived in Bologna but I loved the food.

 

[Ts5034]

The pappardelle bolognese at Fratelli’s in Derby is probably the best Ive had.

 

[storrsroars]

Bologna is an awesome town. Everyone should put on a pair of sweatpants and spend a week eating and drinking there.

One of the best food cities I've been. One of my top 10 meals ever was what seemed like a pretty simple mushroom risotto, but with layering of flavors I haven't come close to duplicating. It was ethereal. Even the pizza at the concession stand in the Bologna convention center blows away 99% of US pizza.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

One of the best food cities I've been. One of my top 10 meals ever was what seemed like a pretty simple mushroom risotto, but with layering of flavors I haven't come close to duplicating. It was ethereal. Even the pizza at the concession stand in the Bologna convention center blows away 99% of US pizza.

There’s a crappy little pizza takeout window that I still crave all the time. I’ve had a few things in that town that fall into the “best __ I’ve ever had” category.

 

[Deepster]

Francesco, the chef/owner of L’Orcio, has made some tremendous special ragus in the almost 20(!) years that they’ve been open. When they used to be open for lunch he would make the special ones more frequently, often using the meat left over from the prior evening‘s dinner. The best one I ever had was his venison one. Somewhat surprisingly given the lack of fat, he made a great one from filet mignon once that also stands as one of the best I ever had.

Interesting, like you say, given the lack of fat in venison and filet mignon.

I feel like my Sunday sauce might be the best thing I make. I was fortunate enough to get a lesson from my best friend's dad before he passed away. In his honor, I'll share it here.

Meatballs - 2 slices of white bread in the bowl, enough milk to make it soggy. Add the 1 lb ground pork, 1 lb ground beef to the bowl, then sauté 5-6 cloves of chopped garlic and 1/2 a finely chopped onion (you could even grate it). Eyeball a couple teaspoons of dried oregano. S/P to your liking. Cook at 375 for 20 minutes, flip the meatballs over so one side doesn't burn and cook another 15 minutes.

In a large pot, put in some olive oil. Brown 6-8 hot Italian sausage links on all sides. Remove when done and place to the side. Then brown a half rack of spare ribs. Should be 8-10 spare ribs. Remove those to the side. In the rendered fat, sauté a medium to large yellow onion and as much garlic as you can handle. I usually go with 12-13 cloves or so. Deglaze the deliciousness on the bottom of that pan with 1-2 cups of deep red wine like a cabernet. Scrape up every bit. That is the heart of this sauce. Add in 3 large cans of crushed tomatoes, good San Marzanos...or better yet your canned tomatoes from the summer. 1 can of water. Fresh basil, dried oregano, S/P and some crushed red pepper. I have oregano and crushed red pepper from my garden every year.

Add back in the ribs and sausage, then the meatballs (including their drippings). Then let that pot go all friggin' day on low. I usually have it at this point by 9 am the latest. Stir frequently. You shouldn't have more than a few slow bubbles at any given time. Around 3? I remove the meat and set it off to the side. I shred the rib meat and add that back in.

Around 5 or 6 pm? You'll see what I call "the shimmer". It's a velvety hue to the sauce and it's magical. It ain't done til you see that shimmer and you'll know it when you see it. And no specific measurements because it's not supposed to be perfect the first time. It takes time to get the feel to it to where you know exactly what you're doing. My mother used to ask me to make her a batch of her own for her birthday and she'd just sit there with bread mopping it up, no pasta most times.

RIP Mr. D.

 

[Ewekon]

Sunday Sauce dinner at Ralph & Rich's in Bridgeport . . . Sunday's only

Also in BPT ... Fire Engine Pizza does a damn good Sunday dinner sauce.