Ragù

You got your gnocchi, now it's time to cook the perfect ragù. I actually suggest doing this the other way around as ragù has to cook for at least two hours.

Ingredients:

1 Onion
2 Carrots
2 Celery sticks
1 cube of stock
1 tablespoon of concentrated tomato puree
500 g. of pork mince meat
500 g. of beef mince meat
Olive oil as needed
Salt and Black pepper as needed

You have to start with the "soffritto", the base for many recipes in Italian cuisine. A mix of finely chopped onions, carrots and celery. You can find a ready made version at Waitrose but chopping it yourself from scratch is much much more fun.

Cook the soffritto in a tablespoon or two of extra virgin oil until the onions turn golden.

At this point add the mince meat and let it cook until it loses its pink, raw colour and turns slighlty brown. Season with salt and pepper. Ragù needs to be cooked over slow fire, so take your time. Add a glass of red wine and let the meat simmer until the wine has almost evaporated.

As I mentioned earlier the secret to a good ragù is the meaty texture. I don't use any plum or chopped tomatoes. Instead I dissolve a cube of stock into some boiling water and add a tablespoon of tomato puree. When the red wine has evaporated I add the stock and tomato and let it cook slowly for about an hour, an hour and a half. I then add a glass of milk and let it cook for another half an hour or so. 

 And your ragù is done!