Bolognese sauce, called ragù in Italian, is a meat sauce that hails from the city of Bologna in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. Bolognese sauce is not a tomato-based meat sauce like the type that is common in America—it is a richly complex, silky-textured, and wonderfully elegant sauce that is traditionally paired with wide, flat pasta strands such as fettuccine. It is also used in the classic lasagna alla Bolognese.

Although the cooking time for Bolognese sauce is long, the hands-on prep time is very brief. Technique and time are important to success here, so don’t be tempted to take shortcuts to speed up the process. Buon appetito!

Total Cooking Time: 300

Preparation Time: 10

Active Cooking Time: 90

Make Ahead: Sauce can be refrigerated for 2 days or frozen for 1 month

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Difficulty: Easy