• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

The Every Kitchen

Telling food stories, one kitchen at a time

  • Home
  • About Me
    • About Me
    • Life in the Kitchen
    • Kitchen Philosophy
  • Healthy Recipes
    • gluten free
    • lightened up
    • sugar free
    • vegan
  • All Recipes
    • bread and breakfast
    • lunch
    • dinner
    • desserts
    • drinks
    • snacks & appetizers
    • favorites
  • Nav Social Menu

    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

Meet Nico + Ragù alla Bolognese

November 7, 2017 by theeverykitchen@gmail.com Leave a Comment

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

This authentic recipe for Ragù alla Bolognese is well worth the hour it takes to make. You'll have plenty for a family dinner, plus extra for the freezer. | theeverykitchen.com
This authentic recipe for Ragù alla Bolognese is well worth the hour it takes to make. You’ll have plenty for a family dinner, plus extra for the freezer. You should also know that it’s damn delicious and it very well may make you cry. 

I met Nico in Spain.


I met him on my second night in Spain in a dormitory in a small place called Roncesvalles. I only spoke with him briefly, but I remembered him. Maybe it was something in those deep, chocolate eyes of his. Or the cadence of his conversation — that Italian lilt.

Does this sound like a love story yet? It sort of is. I fell in love with many people and things in Spain and Nico is one of them.

Meet Nico + Ragù alla Bolognese | theeverykitchen.com
Days later, we would reunite and spend two weeks walking across Spain together with a few other people, all of whom I fell in love with.

(When we reunited, he told me that we had been on the same train from Bayonne to Saint Jean and he remembered me because I looked nervous as hell. He said it more politely, but that was his intonation. Nervous. As. Hell.)

A couple of weeks after returning to Chicago, I got an email from Nico:

Hola Danielle!
I hope you are doing super well in Chicago with your new job and with everything.
I had a free couple of hours, so I wrote and illustrated two of my favourite recipes on two Illustrator sheets.
They are attached to this mail, so you could try them one day or another! ( :
Oh, how my heart soared. I wrote back:
I think what I like best is the way you write. You wrote the recipes exactly how you would explain them out loud to me. I can hear your voice and your accent when I read them!
And how your heart will soar when you taste this Ragù alla Bolognese! Part of me is sure that I love it so much because it reminds me of Nico, but the more grounded part of me knows that I also love it because it’s so damn delicious.

This authentic recipe for Ragù alla Bolognese is well worth the hour it takes to make. You'll have plenty for a family dinner, plus extra for the freezer. | theeverykitchen.com
Nico says during one step in the recipe:

At this point, one of my favourite smells should fill the kitchen and possibly the house.

When I read it, I thought that Nico was just being poetic. But this smell is indeed gorgeous. It’s the smell of sweet caramelized onions, succulent meat, and a crisp white wine. You can practically see these scents filling the room, drifting down the corridor, floating through the house. This smell will make you cry.

We could also chalk it up to me being an emotional wreck, as per usual.

[I’m admitting here that I just typed a few more paragraphs about Nico and then I deleted them because oh my gosh, it certainly does sound like I’m in love with him. I’m just going to sum it up with this:

Nico is wise and kind and unassuming and strong. I sometimes wonder, is it because he’s Italian or is it because he is Nico?

His last email to me was signed, “Have a good autumn, with lots of chestnuts and pumpkins!” Doesn’t that just make your heart happy?]
This authentic recipe for Ragù alla Bolognese is well worth the hour it takes to make. You'll have plenty for a family dinner, plus extra for the freezer. | theeverykitchen.com
For the love of God, let’s have a quick chat about pasta and condiments. As Nico mentions in this recipe for Ragù alla Bolognese,

Use it as a condiment for pasta (either tagliatelle or short pasta – no spaghetti!).

Italians are very serious about pairing their pasta and condiments. Things I learned while eating with Nico in Spain:

  1. Do not mix seafood and cheese.
  2. No, not even American cheese on a tuna melt.
  3. You can’t call it a carbonara if it doesn’t have pancetta, or at least bacon, in it.
  4. So no, this vegetarian “carbonara” is not carbonara, but is blasphemy.
  5. Do not mix chicken with pesto.
  6. Seriously. There is no such thing as Pesto Chicken Pasta.
  7. (I requested Pesto Chicken Pasta on my very last night in Spain and Nico compromised by making Pesto Pasta and cooking chicken on the side.)
  8. Olive oil is important enough for cooking pasta that if you are in a small town in Spain, without any shop, or if all the shops are currently having siesta, it would behoove you to go door-to-door and speak in broken Spanish until someone will give you olive oil. If all else fails, the town church will likely donate to your cause.
  9. Oh my gosh, do not do anything in an Italian’s kitchen unless you are asked to do so. (Okay, so that’s not about condiments, but just a general piece of advice.)
  10. But really, it all boils down to this: Be practical with your condiments. You need a big noodle when you have a thick, meaty sauce — something that will pick up that Ragù alla Bolognese. And conversely, you can use a thin noodle with a thin sauce.

This authentic recipe for Ragù alla Bolognese is well worth the hour it takes to make. You'll have plenty for a family dinner, plus extra for the freezer. | theeverykitchen.com
Even if you don’t end up cooking Ragù alla Bolognese, you should read through the recipe. Nico manages to make the instructions endearing and entertaining. And you will hear his steady and sure voice come through — at least I do.

This authentic recipe for Ragù alla Bolognese is well worth the hour it takes to make. You'll have plenty for a family dinner, plus extra for the freezer. | theeverykitchen.com
Print

Ragù alla Bolognese

Nico says, "This is how I make one of the most popular pasta condiments in Emilia Romagna, Italy. Since it takes a bit, I think it makes sense to prepare a good amount at a time, then store it in the freezer." 

Course Main
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Servings 18 1/2 cup servings
Calories 155 kcal
Author Nico from Venice

Ingredients

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 large white onions
  • 3 large carrots
  • 2 pounds ground meat (I used 50/50 lean beef and lean turkey sausage)
  • 1 bottle dry white wine like pinot grigio
  • 1 pound whole peeled tomatoes canned, good quality
  • q.b.* salt
  • q.b.* ground pepper

Instructions

  1. To make ragù, begin taking the onions. Chop them finely with a sharp kitchen knife. Some people put them into a blender, but I prefer them coarse. Also, if preparing ragù makes you cry, then it will taste better. 

  2. Chop the carrots too and find the biggest pan in your kitchen. A big pot works too. Pour in the oil, then turn the stove on. Before the oil is too hot, begin frying the carrots and the onions until the latter assume a nice golden color. Add the ground meat and stir energetically with a wooden spoon. From now on, you need to stir periodically until we are done. 

  3. Cook for several minutes (a lid makes it quicker). You need to wait for the meat to lose its red color - no hurry here. When it's ready, uncork the white wine and pour yourself a glass, then pour the rest of it into the pan. It's better if you add it in two or three times, otherwise the ragù's temperature might drop too much. At this point, one of my favorite smells should fill the kitchen and possibly the house. 

  4. Now the wine and all the meat juices need to evaporate slowly. If you want to keep the fire quite aggressive, then don't forget to stir often. When the mix is completely dry (but before it burns!) add the tomatoes and break up into small pieces with a wooden spoon. From this moment, you may have to wait half an hour as the tomatoes need to lose some of their water. Patience pays off in this phase. When the 30 minutes have passed, wait 10 more. (It already takes a long time. 10 minutes won't change much.)   

  5. Now you should be almost ready. Such an amount of ragù needs at least 6-8 pinches of salt, but keep tasting and adding until you like it. Just a small sprinkle of pepper and it's done! 

  6. Use it as a condiment for pasta (either tagliatelle or short pasta - no spaghetti!) or just as an ingredient for lasagne alla bolognese. It can be frozen in small glass jars after it has cooled down. (Let the jars thaw naturally though -- not in a microwave!) Good luck!

Recipe Notes

*q.b. stands for quanto basta, meaning "enough" or "to taste." 

More from my site

  • Simplest Oven-Roasted Tomato SauceSimplest Oven-Roasted Tomato Sauce
  • Autumn Lasagna with Butternut Squash and Spinach
  • Better-For-You Beef StroganoffBetter-For-You Beef Stroganoff
  • Seared Shrimp & Scallops in Apple Cider Cream SauceSeared Shrimp & Scallops in Apple Cider Cream Sauce
  • 15 Sugar Free Recipes to Salivate Over15 Sugar Free Recipes to Salivate Over
  • Meet Katie, Flexitarian + Crispy Baked Orange TofuMeet Katie, Flexitarian + Crispy Baked Orange Tofu

Filed Under: dinner, favorites, gluten free, lightened up, meat and poultry, pasta, sugar free, your food stories Tagged With: alla, bolognese, condiment, italian, lasagna, lasagne, meat sauce, pasta, ragu, red sauce, rigatoni, sauce, spaghetti, tomato sauce

Previous Post: « Sheet Pan Sage Pork with Apples and Potatoes
Next Post: Roasted Butternut Squash with Tahini and Za’atar »

Reader Interactions

Lemon Feta Chicken Sliders

The secret to my recipe for Guinness Chocolate Cake with Bailey's Buttercream is to reduce the stout first to give you a deeply malted and moist crumb. The frosting adds just enough excitement without stealing the show and the end result is a cake you can't resist eating... even for breakfast! | theeverykitchen.com

Guinness Chocolate Cake with Bailey’s Buttercream

My recipe for Sheet Pan Salmon, Bok Choy, and Sweet Potato Noodles takes only 20 minutes, start to finish. Tender, buttery, perfectly prepared salmon will make you salivate before it melts in your mouth. | theeverykitchen.com

Sheet Pan Salmon, Bok Choy, and Sweet Potato Noodles

Toasted Pistachio Orange Biscotti is well-balanced with citrus notes. Toasty, a-little-bit-salty pistachios really steal the show. This recipe pairs well with a large pot of coffee. | theeverykitchen.com

Toasted Pistachio Orange Biscotti

Rum Pumpkin Praline Pie is the perfect combination of light and boozy, sweet and salty. A store-bought crust makes this recipe practically effortless. #boozy #pie #dessert | theeverykitchen.com
Cranberry Cream Cheese Dip with Candied Pecans is the perfect appetizer recipe for all your fall gatherings. It takes just 10 minutes to prep and makes enough to feed a crowd. #glutenfree #appetizer #holidayrecipe | theeverykitchen.com
Easy Oven Tandoori Chicken has a sweet and smoky slow heat. The flavors may be complex, but the recipe is quite easy! #paleo #glutenfree #sugarfree | theeverykitchen.com
Make breakfast healthier, tastier, and more satisfying with simple swaps. Sweet Potato, Kale, Mushroom Hash features cholesterol-free corn oil. #ChooseMazola | theeverykitchen.com
The best thing about this recipe for Air Fryer Falafel Burgers? Toss up between that crisp crumb and the tender, hot chickpea exploding inside. | theeverykitchen.com

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




Primary Sidebar

Food Advertising by logo
Food Advertising by logo

About Danielle

Danielle is a registered dietitian and the story teller behind The Every Kitchen. Three things that inspire her: Her parent's kitchen table, the way food nurtures relationships and nourishes souls, damn good chocolate chip cookies. EVERY KITCHEN has a story and Danielle shares them, one kitchen at a time. Read More…

Food Advertising by logo

Copyright © 2025 · Foodie Pro & The Genesis Framework