{"id":2773,"date":"2025-03-24T07:30:07","date_gmt":"2025-03-23T20:30:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bdabooks.com.au\/Blog\/?p=2773"},"modified":"2025-03-23T16:43:05","modified_gmt":"2025-03-23T05:43:05","slug":"cook-like-an-italian-my-go-to-ragu-alla-abruzzese","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bdabooks.com.au\/Blog\/2025\/cook-like-an-italian-my-go-to-ragu-alla-abruzzese\/","title":{"rendered":"Cook Like an Italian: My Go-To Rag\u00f9 alla Abruzzese"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n\r\n\r\n
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I learned how to cook rag\u00f9 alla Abruzzese from my Italian grandmother. Here are some secrets to creating the perfect sauce in your own kitchen.<\/h5>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n
\"Photograph
Belinda D’Alessandro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

My Nonna taught me how to cook some of her recipes and that Italian cooking is not just about following a recipe; it is about creating a culinary experience. I\u2019m going to share my go-to spaghetti \u201csauce\u201d recipe.<\/p>\r\n

So, get ready to cook like an Italian and add some Italian magic to your next meal!<\/p>\r\n

The Recipe<\/h2>\r\n

Every Italian will argue that their rag\u00f9 is the best. This is my version of my Nonna\u2019s \u2013 and the best! \u2013 recipe.<\/p>\r\n

Ingredients<\/h3>\r\n
    \r\n
  • 1 large onion, diced<\/li>\r\n
  • 2 carrots, diced<\/li>\r\n
  • 2 sticks of celery, diced<\/li>\r\n
  • 2 or 3 cloves of garlic, crushed<\/li>\r\n
  • Bay leaf<\/li>\r\n
  • 500g (1.1lb) beef (or veal) mince<\/li>\r\n
  • 500g (1.1lb) pork mince<\/li>\r\n
  • 3- 5 tbsp tomato paste (approx. half a jar)<\/li>\r\n
  • 1 800g (1.75lb) tin tomatoes (or 2 400g \/ 14oz tins)<\/li>\r\n
  • 1 800g (1.75lb) jar of tomato passata (pur\u00e9ed, strained uncooked tomatoes)<\/li>\r\n
  • Glass (or two) of wine (red or white, your choice)<\/li>\r\n
  • Vegetable stock (or water)<\/li>\r\n
  • Salt<\/li>\r\n
  • Pepper<\/li>\r\n
  • Sugar<\/li>\r\n<\/ul>\r\n

    Guide<\/h3>\r\n
      \r\n
    1. Dice the onions, carrots, and celery \u2013 I run them through my food processor \u2026 who wants to waste time crying while chopping onions!<\/li>\r\n
    2. Crush the garlic cloves (while I don\u2019t run them through my food processor, the trusty garlic press comes out!)<\/li>\r\n
    3. Fry the onions, carrots, and celery (adding salt and pepper as you go, go lightly here!) with the bay leaf and fry off over a medium heat for 5 or 6 minutes.<\/li>\r\n
    4. Add the garlic to the sofrito (onions, carrots, and celery), stirring for another couple of minutes.<\/li>\r\n
    5. Turn the heat up to high, add the mince to the sofrito, and brown it off, seasoning with salt and pepper as you go. Once the mince is browned off, turn the heat down, add the wine (how much you add is up to you!) and simmer until the alcohol smell has cooked off. Once the wine has simmered off, cover the meat with vegetable stock (or water), and simmer until the stock has almost disappeared.<\/li>\r\n
    6. Once the meat and sofrito has simmered until the stock has almost disappeared, turn the heat back up and add in the tomato paste. Stir it through until the meat is covered and cook through for a few minutes.<\/li>\r\n
    7. Add the tinned tomatoes and the jar of passata and mix, seasoning with salt and pepper as you go.<\/li>\r\n
    8. Fill the tomato tins and the passata jar about halfway with vegetable stock (or water) and pour the sauce into them.<\/li>\r\n
    9. Turn down the heat to the lowest and simmer for 2 to 3 hours, until the vegetable stock has reduced and the sauce has thickened.<\/li>\r\n<\/ol>\r\n

      During the simmering process, you\u2019ll also need to taste it to see if it needs any sugar to counter the acidity of the tomatoes. Add about half a teaspoon of sugar at a time until the acidity doesn\u2019t taste so\u2026 acidic anymore!<\/p>\r\n

      Not all rag\u00f9s are the same!<\/h2>\r\n

      This is NOT a Bolognese! While both are rag\u00f9s, each region of Italy has its own version! My paternal grandparents (and my dad!) came from the Abruzzo region, about three and a half hours (by car) south of Bologna, the capital of Emilia-Romagna, where the Bolognese version originated.<\/p>\r\n

      \"Driving<\/p>\r\n

      Driving route from Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, to Pescara, Abruzzo (via Google Maps)<\/p>\r\n

      Both start with similar ingredients \u2013 onions, carrots, celery, tomato paste, and meat \u2013 but Bolognese has milk to help tenderise the meat. Bolognese also has WAY less tomatoes in it. You\u2019d basically cut out the tinned tomatoes and the passata from my recipe or only add a small (400 gram \/ 14 ounce) can of tinned tomatoes at most.<\/p>\r\n

      Both versions also usually have wine in them, with red wine being used for Bolognese and white wine used for Abruzzese (although I use either, whichever I have at the time). The one thing Nonna ALWAYS said to me about which wine to use was always use a good wine. If you wouldn\u2019t drink it, DON\u2019T PUT IT IN YOUR SAUCE!!!<\/p>\r\n

      Snags to avoid with rag\u00f9s<\/h2>\r\n

      Cooking a rag\u00f9 might seem simple, but a few things can make it go wrong! With the long simmer time, burning the bottom of the sauce makes it bitter. You\u2019ll have to watch the heat of your cooktop and stir regularly to stop it from catching on the bottom of the pot.<\/p>\r\n

      You also need to be careful with how much seasoning you add, especially the simmering stage. Because you add salt and pepper as you go, you have to taste it as it cooks so you don\u2019t over-season or under-season it.<\/p>\r\n

      You may also need to adjust how many carrots or celery sticks you use in your sofrito, depending on the size of your onion. There should be equal amounts of onion, carrot and celery.<\/p>\r\n

      If you want to add extra herbs to your rag\u00f9, the herbs you use make a difference to when you add them. If you want to add woody herbs \u2013 like thyme, oregano, or rosemary \u2013 add them when you add the garlic to cook them out properly. If you\u2019re going to add woody herbs \u2013 like parsley or basil \u2013 add them very close to the end of the simmer so they don\u2019t burn or overcook them.<\/p>\r\n

      Also, don\u2019t rush the process. Rag\u00f9s require time to develop its full flavour. Resist the temptation to cut the simmering time. Allowing the sauce to simmer for several hours ensures a bigger flavour!<\/p>\r\n

      Which pasta?<\/h2>\r\n

      Nonna would use a flat wide pasta (like tagliatelle, pappardelle or fettuccine) or a round pasta (penne or rigatoni). Wider pasta is better to catch it! Or she\u2019d use it in her lasagne. I like it on toast!<\/p>\r\n

      The pasta should be cooked al dente \u2013 or \u201cto the tooth\u201d \u2013 meaning it\u2019s slightly firm, chewy, and not mushy. If you\u2019re using dried pasta, cut the cooking time by 1 minute on the packet. I remember one time I overcooked the pasta, Nonna threw it out and I had to start again! I never made that mistake again! (Insert raucous laughter here!)<\/p>\r\n

      Final thoughts<\/h2>\r\n

      I hope you like my version of rag\u00f9 alla Abruzzese and find inspiration to embrace Italian culinary traditions! Cooking like an Italian is about more than just the ingredients and techniques \u2013 it\u2019s about embracing a way of life centred around food. It\u2019s about savouring every bite.<\/p>\r\n

      Thank you for joining me on this culinary adventure. I hope you enjoy the secrets of my Nonna\u2019s rag\u00f9 as much as I have enjoyed sharing them with you.<\/p>\r\n

      So, gather your ingredients, fire up the stove, and let your creativity lead the way.<\/p>\r\n

      Until next time, buon appetito!<\/p>\r\n\n

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      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      I learned how to cook rag\u00f9 alla Abruzzese from my Italian grandmother. Here are some secrets to creating the perfect sauce in your own kitchen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2775,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"\ud83c\udf5d Just dropped my recipe for Rag\u00f9 alla Abruzzese on my blog! Discover the secrets to this rich, comforting sauce that's sure to impress your family and friends. Perfect for pasta night! \ud83c\uddee\ud83c\uddf9\u2728 #ItalianCooking #Ragu #Foodie #VivaItalia\r\nhttps:\/\/bdabooks.com.au\/Blog\/2025\/cook-like-an-italian-my-go-to-ragu-alla-abruzzese\/","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[157],"tags":[155,156],"class_list":["post-2773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cooking","tag-cooking","tag-recipes"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/bdabooks.com.au\/Blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/IMG_3658-002.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bdabooks.com.au\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bdabooks.com.au\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bdabooks.com.au\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bdabooks.com.au\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bdabooks.com.au\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2773"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/bdabooks.com.au\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2783,"href":"https:\/\/bdabooks.com.au\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2773\/revisions\/2783"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bdabooks.com.au\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2775"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bdabooks.com.au\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bdabooks.com.au\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bdabooks.com.au\/Blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}