Tuscan ragù: slow-cooked meat sauce with vegetables and sage
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Tuscan ragù (meat and vegetable sauce)
Every region of Italy has its favorite ragù. At our cooking classes in Tuscany we teach this Tuscan version, made with very little tomato. Use it as a base, then play with the wine, tomato and spices (swap the nutmeg for cinnamon for a completely different sauce) and build your own ragù repertoire.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 50 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Gluten-Free
Ingredients
- 3 medium carrots, peeled
- 3 large celery stalks, strings removed if stringy
- 2 large onions, peeled
- A handful of parsley stems
- A good bunch of sage, leaves only (about 20 large leaves)
- 2 garlic cloves
- Olive oil
- 250 g (9 oz) good-quality ground beef
- 1 Italian sausage, casing removed (or a handful of ground pork)
- 1 whole nutmeg
- 250–500 ml (1–2 cups) white or red wine, or Vin Santo, for different effects
- 650 g (about 1½ lb) good-quality crushed tomatoes
- 250–500 ml (1–2 cups) vegetable stock, as needed
- Salt and pepper
- Pasta (see notes for quantities)
- A good handful of grated Parmesan
Instructions
- Finely chop the carrots, celery, onions and parsley stems with a mezzaluna or food processor (careful not to turn them into mush). Separately, finely chop the sage and garlic.
- Heat a little oil in a saucepan and cook the chopped vegetables gently until soft.
- Add the beef and sausage and cook until well browned, about 10 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. (For a drier texture, brown the meat separately with a little garlic, then add it to the vegetables.)
- Add the sage, garlic and half the nutmeg, grated. Cook a little longer, making sure the garlic doesn’t burn.
- Add the wine, mix well and let it evaporate.
- Add the tomatoes, mix well and simmer over low heat for at least an hour, adding wine or stock if the sauce starts to dry out. The longer it cooks, the better it gets!
- Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling water, salted just before you add the pasta, until al dente (a good minute or two less than the package says). Save some of the cooking water.
- In a warmed bowl, toss the pasta with the sauce, adding a little cooking water if it seems dry. Add grated Parmesan now or at the table.
Notes
Pasta quantities are very personal, but for a fairly rich sauce like this one, allow 60–80 g (2–3 oz) per person as a first course, or 140–160 g (5–6 oz) as a main course.
I love all the recipes of Tuscany. Thanks for your work. I like everything that comes from Tuscany, I’m going to buy me a corkscrew in true Tuscan style
Ever since attending your class, I make this ragu regularly. Thank you for the experience of a lifetime!