Ultimate Ragù Bolognese

Recipe by: Leslie Brenner

As legions of nonnas have counseled and writers have written, the key to a sumptuous ragù Bolognese is giving it plenty of time. I developed this recipe for the Washington Post, as part of a deep-dive story about ragù Bolognese. (It was one of the Post’s 10 most popular recipes that year!) It takes about 4 ½ hours to cook— and that’s once you have everything prepped.

Another essential element is the way the onion, carrot and celery are cut for the soffritto: Ideally, they should be finely chopped or very finely diced, as small as what the French call brunoise — cubes of about ⅛ inch. That way those aromatic vegetables will melt beautifully, with long, slow cooking, into the ragù.

Equally important are the ground beef and pork, which should be the best quality you can get. I like to use grass-fed beef that’s 20% fat. Ground heritage pork is a bonus; I sometimes find ground Kurobuta (Berkshire) pork…