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“10 Minute” Bolognese from Stanley Tucci

“10 Minute” Bolognese from Stanley Tucci
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Stanley Tucci enjoying his pasta.

An eye-opening Bolognese from Tucci’s “Searching for Italy”

We’ve always cooked Bolognese, arguably the most famous of all pasta sauces, for several hours. Its rich meaty flavor developed slowly. And before an ounce of beef was added to the sauce, the holy trinity of Onions, Carrots, and Celery was cooked. Once the beef was browned a sizeable quantity of tomatoes was added.  The result is not in question here. Bolognese made this way is simply delicious. But is it the genuine article? Or is it the entirely different one Stanley Tucci raved about on “Searching for Italy: Bologna”? And does it really take only 10 minutes to cook as Mr. Tucci marveled?

Pellegrino Artusi’s recipe for Bolognese

Pelligrino Artusi 1820-1910

Who is Pelligrino Artusi?  It is hard to imagine anyone having influence over Italian home cooking other than that of Pellegrino Artusi.  Born in 1820, the son of a wealthy family, he made a fortune trading silks across Italy.  At 45 he retired to focus on his real passions: Culture and Cuisine.  He wrote several books and self-published 475 recipes collected from friends and acquaintances.  But his most lasting gift to Italian home cooking was the publication of “La Scienza in Cucina e L’arte di Mangiare Bene” (The Science of Cooking and the Art of Eating Well). Written just 20 years after the unification of Italy, Artusi was the first to include recipes from all twenty regions of Italy in a single cookbook.EXCITING NEWS: A NEW ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE BOOK HAS JUST BEEN PUBLISHED. CLICK HERE AND YOU CAN BUY ONE https://amzn.to/3HsBId9

“La scienza in cucina e l’arte di mangiare bene” says a lot about its author

Casa Artusi, 28,000 square meters devoted to Italian Home Cooking

Artusi was a progressive who worshipped science. He filled his book with witty anecdotes. Each story revealed his wisdom and knowledge of Italian culture.  When he couldn’t find a publisher, the lifelong bachelor paid for the first 1000 copies of the book. It was wildly successful eventually translated into 7 languages, most recently Polish. Artusi was well-traveled throughout Italy but his recipes are primarily from Emilia Romagna where he was born and Tuscany, where he lived in Florence until his death at age 90. But it is in his hometown of Forlimpopoli where you’ll find Casa Artusi. After Artusi bequeathed his entire library of 28,000 books, the town created this center of gastronomic culture. It is devoted entirely to Italian Home Cookery and the source of today’s recipe for Bolognese.

What is the difference between this and other Bolognese recipes?

Artusi’s recipe differs from others, most notably in the meat department. He uses veal instead of beef.  Veal cooks far more quickly than beef. But when Stanley cooked it with Barbara Asioli from Casa Artusi, it didn’t just take 10 minutes. A marvelous expert on Italian cooking herself, Letitizia Mattiacci, (Click on her name to see her wonderful blog) commented: “This is surely delicious but Artusi does not say to cook it 10 minutes. This recipe is nowadays named “ragù bianco” in Italy and it must cook at least one hour otherwise it tastes like fried meat. And that is perfectly fine but the Bolognese sauce is a ragù. The term ragù refers to slow cooking so if it’s made in 10 min it’s not a ragù nor is it a Bolognese! People will be up in arms in Bologna!”  Artusi also adds nutmeg, a pinch of flour, and beef broth.  What he doesn’t include are any of the following ingredients. There isn’t any garlic, no basil, no oregano, no parsley, no bay leaves, no rosemary, no thyme or sage, no anchovies, no fennel or star anise, no lemon zest, no cinnamon, no sugar, no peppers, no chili sauce or hot pepper flakes.  And certainly, no tomatoes. At all. Do not expect this dish to taste at all like the Bolognese most of us have grown up with. This is subtler. The nutmeg gives it an earthy quality. It is a subtle dish, not a brash one.

What’s the key to a great Bolognese?

The key to a perfect bolognese is uniform texture. All of the main ingredients should be roughly the same size. This makes for a more pleasant eating experience. It helps evenly distribute the flavor and encourages the sauce to cling to each individual strand of pasta. About the all-important pasta: Despite years of people serving “Spaghetti Bolognese”, the sauce should ‘grip’ the pasta as Stanley Tucci described it. Ideally, you want a good amount of Bolognese sauce in every bit of pasta. Fresh pasta is a must here. (We buy ours at our Farmer’s Market. If you live near an Eataly, you’re in luck). Tagliatelle, Pappardelle, and Fettucine are all broad flat ribbons of pasta that will be sumptuously coated in the sauce. Here is the recipe and after it, some other takes on pasta you might enjoy.

Pelligrino Artusi's Bolognese

April 6, 2021
: 4
: 15 min
: Easy. The hardest part is the chopping and that can be done in a Cuisinart

This original recipe for one of Italy's most famous pasta sauces breaks a lot of rules and does it with not a tomato in sight.

By:

Ingredients
  • 400g / 14 oz tagliatelle (or pappardelle or fettucine)
  • 300 g / 11 oz lean veal (in one piece or ground)
  • 50g / 4 oz pancetta
  • 40g / 3 oz unsalted butter
  • 1/2 onion
  • 1 carrot
  • 2 medium celery stalks
  • 2 tsp flour
  • 500ml / 1-pint good beef stock
  • Salt
  • Black pepper
  • Nutmeg (optional)
  • Grated parmigiano reggiano cheese, to serve
Directions
  • Step 1 Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil for the pasta.
  • Step 2 Cut the veal into very small pieces and finely chop the pancetta, onion, carrot, and celery.
  • Step 3 Heat the butter in a pan and add the veal, pancetta, and vegetables all at the same time, season with black pepper and a tiny pinch of salt.
  • Step 4 Once the veal has browned in about an hour, add a sprinkle of flour, nutmeg if desired, and a ladle of stock.
  • Step 5 Continue to cook for 10 minutes, continuing to add more stock as necessary.
  • Step 6 In the meantime, cook the tagliatelle until al dente. Drain, toss together with the sauce, and serve with grated Parmigiano Reggiano.

From Stanley Tucci’s “Searching For Italy”: Spaghetti Alla Nerano

Food and Wine’s Best Recipe of 2002: Pasta with Sausage Basil and Mustard from Nigel Slater

Spring Pasta with Chicken Ragù, Fennel and Peas

 


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19 thoughts on ““10 Minute” Bolognese from Stanley Tucci”

    • It is a very different take on Bolognese. Please follow my friend Letizia’s advice about the length of time it takes to cook in properly. I love Stanley but he implied it was ready in 10 minutes. Not So!

      • I admit I read and re-read the recipe to try and determine where 10 minutes came from. I thought your “hour” was a typo!
        I used the whole hour to get just right!

        • I am sorry for the confusion. Tucci made an off-hand remark about how this took all of 10 minutes to make. As you can read, Letizia Mattiaci, a friend of mine who runs a Cooking School in Umbria, jumped it to say that in no way did it take 10 minutes to cook. To me, the real story was that unlike traditional tomatoey, beefy bolognese, this can be put together in an hour. I urge you to try the Lamb Ragu I posted today. It’s another 1 hour miracle and so very good! All best to you all!

          • Just watched the episode – Tucci was referring to the length of time it took to cook the pasta (probably from start to finish.) He never mentions the cooking time of the ragu. (I can’t wait to try this!)

          • Hi Daniel. I think there was more than a little exaggeration at work during this episode. Certainly, the ten-minute reference was…misleading at best. My Italian friend, mentioned in the piece, jumped out of her skin when confronted with it. Let us know what you think of the recipe. Apologies for not getting back to you sooner. I was in Italy and France since late October. Just got back yesterday.

          • Hello Sean.I must apologize. I was quite literally at sea when you question came in and had no Internet access to answer your question. I am sure that by now, you have discovered what my friend Letizia Mattiacci had to say on the subject of 10 Minute Bolognese. It is just not possible to obtain anything like decent ragu in 10 minutes. Even an Instant Pot would take longer than that by the time you’d let the steam escape. If you have a moment, I’m sure our readers would love to hear how your ragu turned out and how long it actually took to make. Buon Appetito, Monte

        • I think low and slow is the way to go. It belies the 10-minute reference completely. I had hoped that the run-up to the recipe would encourage cooking this for a far longer time than was implied in the televised version. That was annoyingly debunked. Buon Appetito!

  • I will be making this again tonight. It will be the 3rd time I have made this in the past 7 days. Such a great recipe to toy around with!

  • I found the result quite meh. Appreciating it is a classic,, … Next time I will brown the pork and onions first and add 150ml of passata.

  • Made this tonight exactly as stated and it was FABULOUS!! Never thought I’d like a bolognese without tomatoes but this was just delicious. I used BETTER THAN BOULLION VEGETABLE BROTH as I was out of beef broth and served it over fresh pasta with pecorino romano. You definitely must cook it for an hour. and the prep time is at least 15 minutes if you chop everything by hand as I did. Maybe Mr. Tucci meant it is so yummy you devour it in 10 minutes…GUILTY!

    • Dear Jazmin, Now that makes all the sense in the world! As you read, the original time frame of 10 minutes threw my expert for a loop. But given that there’s no real effort involved in cooking it longer, it’s the way to go. Thanks so much for taking the time to comment. Buon Appetito~

    • I did not see the use of bacon in the recipe I was following. So I really can’t say where it was used. Buon Appetito!

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