A better bolognese

[WildBoar]

I agree. It took me over 40 years, but I eventually started messing with the tomato sauce recipe I grew up on, which came through one of my grandmothers. A few little additions here and there made it go from 'good' to 'great'. Same with the meatball. The 'traditional' Russian food my wife sometimes makes screams out to be tweaked with ingredients that were not originally available. If I'm going to eat, why not eat something as tasty as possible?

 

[AllanP]

I'm sure even if you go to Bologna, even the natives all cook it differently

 

[DamageInc]

I'm sure even if you go to Bologna, even the natives all cook it differently

That's completely true.

Traditionally in Denmark, you NEVER put smoked paprika in your beef/pork hash, but it tastes so damn good. Taste trumps tradition every time in my book.

 

[malexthekid]

I'm sure even if you go to Bologna, even the natives all cook it differently

I think there is no one recipe for it but there are more traditional and less.

They all taste great if done nicely. But just different.

 

[guari]

Anchovies added at the very beggining of cooking are a killer in bolognese.

I also cook the meat first at very high heat to help with lots of caramelisation, remove and lower the heat, then cook the vegetables on the same pot.

Yuuuuummy stuff

 

[aboynamedsuita]

Bolognese has piqued my interest recently… interestingly it was after seeing the abomination those idiots made in the knuckleheads video posted by damage the other day.

I agree with the earlier posts that there isn't really a right or wrong way to make something (I often buck at the trend of following "the recipe" in general), but there seemed to be a lot of things wrong there

 

[preizzo]

General heavy cream and creme fresh aren't proper Italian ingredients, we don't use them in our traditional receipt but I agree that add additional ingredients to classic receipt sometime helps to bring up the flavours.

 

[mille162]

I'm sure even if you go to Bologna, even the natives all cook it differently

I was lucky enough to tour through Bologna a few years back and the Bolognese was amazing EVERYWHERE we ate. Got to share a particularly great dish of it with this guy one afternoon

On another trip through Tuscany region I had a very memorable version made with local wild boar and juniper berries. Tried it a few times at home but never even came close to the the dish I had so now I just stick to a beef/veal mixture..oh, and I add eggplant cubes to mine at the end. I find instead of anchovies, it's easier to cheat and keep this paste in the fridge: http://www.taste5umami.com

When I try to eat healthier I make a version with ground dark meat turkey instead of meat and to keep the turkey from drying out too much, sear it then set it aside and mix back in at the end. Def tastes better the next day so make a big pot of it.

 

[tgfencer]

Wild boar bolognese sounds incredible.

 

[spoiledbroth]

I've never heard of cream in bolognese though I don't think this is really Italian food per se

 

[tgfencer]

I've never heard of cream in bolognese though I don't think this is really Italian food per se

Me either. But thats the great thing about cooking, its always worth experimenting!