Pappardelle Bolognese

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Pappardelle Alla Bolognese is one of the staples of Italian comfort food. These wide egg pasta ribbons coated in rich and flavorful authentic Bolognese sauce are impossible to resist.

Prep Time5

Cook Time5

Course: Pasta

Cuisine: Italian

Servings:

Calories: 713kcal

Author: Svi

Ingredients

For Pappardelle Alla Bolognese

8-10 oz dry pappardelle pasta or 18-20 oz fresh pappardelle
Parmesan cheese for serving
2 cups Ragu Alla Bolognese or

For Ragu Alla Bolognese

1 lb ground beef , about 450-500 grams
5 oz pancetta (pork belly) , cut in small cubes (about 150 grams)
1 onion , finely chopped
1 carrot , finely chopped
2 celery stalks , finely chopped
1 cup tomato passata (strained tomatoes)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
⅔ cup dry white or red wine
1 cup broth or water
⅓ cup milk optional
1 teaspoon salt , more to taste
Pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

Prepare Ragu

Remove the rind from pork belly and then cut it into ¼ inch (0.5 cm) strips and again into ¼ inch x ¼ inch cubes.
Wash and peel the vegetables. With a sharp knife finely chop onion, carrot and celery. You can also chop them roughly and pulse in a food processor until finely chopped.

Cook Soffritto

In a casserole add pork belly cubes and let brown on medium-high heat.
Reduce the heat and add finely chopped vegetables.
Let cook of medium-low heat until vegetables have softened and onion has changed color from white to almost translucent. This will take about 10 minutes. It’s best to keep the lid on and stir frequently.

Roast the Meat

In a separate large pan add a splash of extra virgin olive oil and ground beef.
Set the heat to high and stir continuously with a wooden spoon breaking the meat into small pieces.
After a few minutes of cooking the meat will release the juice. Do NOT stop cooking. If you stop at this time you’ll have the taste of boiled meat in your ragu!
Continue on high heat stirring until the meat has browned. Once meat changed color and all juice has evaporated, add wine. Cook for a few more minutes until wine has slightly evaporated.
This will take 10-12 minutes.

Assemble and Cook Ragu

Transfer roasted meat to the casserole with soffritto.
Add tomato passata (sieved tomatoes) and tomato paste and stir.
Add broth and bring everything to a boil.
Set heat on very low and cover the pot with the lid leaving a small opening.
Simmer on low heat for 2.5-3 hours.
Half through the cooking time add milk or skip the milk if you prefer.
Make sure to check and stir your ragu occasionally and check.
If ragu dries out too much add a little more broth or water.
At the end of cooking adjust for salt and pepper to taste.

Cook Pappardelle

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Once reached rolling boil add pappardelle pasta. Cook for 2-3 minutes or according to directions on the package.
Leave 2 cups of ragu in the pot (for 4 servings). Store the remaining in the freezer.
Once pappardelle are cooked, reserve 1 cup of cooking liquid and drain the rest.
In a pot with ragu sauce, add cooked pappardelle pasta and a little of pasta cooking liquid. Add more if needed until pasta is well coated in the sauce. Toss in the pot for 1 minute and serve!

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