Already sick of a cooking bearkitty? Hope not. ^.^’
So it’s  ghostbear2k again, presenting you yet another classic dish. This time from Italy: Tagliatelle al ragu bolognese.
While most of the world is serving “Spaghetti alla Bolognese”, this combination is pretty unknown in Bologna and the Emilia-Romagna.
The more classic form of this dish is made with broad noodles, mostly Tagliatelle and is different from the fast cooked dish you’ll get everywhere around the world as almost a type of ‘fast-food’.
This recipe is a bit closer to the traditional version and while it needs only very few ingredients it requires a long cooking time.

Ingredients:
- 500g minced or finely chopped beef
- 50g Guanciale, Panchetta or pork jowl
- 2-3 carrots
- A piece of Celery, sized to your taste
- Canned tomatoes, chopped or Passata
- 1 tablespoon Tomato paste
- 1-2 cloves of garlic
- Dry red wine
- 1 glass of beef stock
- Olive oil, lard or clarified butter
- Fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme, basil, 1 bay leaf)
- Salt, pepper, nutmeg (very little)
- Tagliatelle (Fettuccine or any other broad noodles will work as well)

Preparation:
Cut the Guanciale into pieces and carefully render it in a bit of olive oil, lard or clarified butter.
Chop the onions, celery and carrots (which is a kind of mirepoix in this combination) very finely and roast them together with the bacon. Add tomato paste and continue to roast a little longer. Pour in a glass of red wine to deglaze. Let the liquid evaporate, pour in another glass… rinse, repeat ;) You only want the taste of the red wine, not the alcohol.
Add washed herbs and garlic (just peel it and crush it a little with the flat side of your kitchen knife). You can put them into a paper tea bag, so have an easy time removing it.
Pour in chopped tomatoes or passata and add some beef stock for additional taste.
Let it simmer for at least one hour until the sauce thickens. The longer you cook it, the better it will get, trust me on that. ^_^
If necessary add some more beef stock (or later: noodle water, the Italian all-purpose weapon for sauces :3 ) of too much of the liquid evaporates.
Season to your taste, don’t forget to add a little nutmeg.
Cook your pasta al dente. Take it out of the pot, don’t rinse it, put it directly into the sauce and mix it well.
Serve with a bit of fresh basil and shaved Parmigiano.

Enjoy the taste of Italy ^_^