Ragù for Students at Home

Make sure you turn your camera off when you eat this

I picked up the habit of cooking in bulk while backpacking in Australia. I lived on my own and worked in the countryside, and oftentimes the nearest supermarket was a 45-minute drive away. I went into town every 10 to 15 days, bought bagfuls of food, cooked them before they expired, and froze the leftovers. Your freezer becomes your good friend if you cook for yourself — striking a nice balance between taste and convenience.

This ragù recipe is one I’ve cooked many times, and it has never failed me. It is based on ragù alla bolognese, just with added vegetables and tomatoes. I think a stronger presence of vegetables brings out more sweetness and tanginess. The ragù is loaded with flavour, keeps well in the fridge, and freezes beautifully. On nights when I was not in the mood to cook, I would simply grab a portion from the freezer, and a hearty meal would be ready in no time. 

This is ideal for stay-at-home students who want to take a little break in between readings (to give the pot a good stir) and fancy some good food at the end of the day, and for days to come.

The Recipe

The key to making a good pot of ragù, in my opinion, is a long, steady simmer. I cook my pot for six hours — so from noon to early evening on a weekend night. From my experience, the flavour only starts to infuse after three hours; four hours is good enough, but I argue that six makes it even better. There is nothing tricky about this recipe — it’s hard to mess up once you get all the ingredients simmering, and from then on the only thing you need is a little bit of patience.

Ingredients

(Serves 8)

2-3 onions

2 carrots

4 celery stalks

1kg lean ground beef *

1 big can of tomatoes, or 1/2 bottle of passata

1 glass of white or red wine

500mL beef/chicken/vegetable stock

250mL milk

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary, or 2-3 tsp dried rosemary leaves

4 dried bay leaves

3 cloves of garlic (optional)

1 star anise (optional)

1 piece of rind from Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano (optional, but recommended) **

olive oil, salt, and black pepper

* You can put any kind of ground meat or stewing/roasting cut: ground beef and pork, beef roasting cut, or kangaroo mince (it’s a thing in Australian supermarkets).

** The cheese rind works magic in soups and stews. Just remember to fish it out before serving.

Pasta to serve with

Preferably a long, flat pasta. But really, this sauce pairs well with most pasta shapes you have in your pantry. It also works great as the base in baked lasagna.

Method

1. Finely chop the onions, carrots, celery stalks, and garlic (if using). Rinse the rosemary and take the leaves off. If using a big chunk of meat, cut it into smaller pieces.
2. Heat some olive oil in a pot or wok over medium heat. Add the chopped vegetables. Cook, constantly stirring, until they are soft, around 10 minutes.
3. Heat some olive oil in a big pot over medium-high heat. Add the ground meat or roast cut pieces. Stir and brown the meat on every side. When the juice reduces, add in the cooked vegetables. Then, add the glass of wine. Let the liquid reduce again.
4. When the liquid has mostly evaporated, add the stock, and the canned tomatoes or passata. Throw in the rosemary leaves, bay leaves, star anise (if using) and the cheese rind. Season with salt and pepper (but not too much). Bring it to a boil, and then turn down to low heat. Cover most of the pot and let it simmer.
5. Cook for at least 4 hours, stirring every 30 minutes to 1 hour (a good reminder to stand up and move around). If it seems dry before it’s done, add some more boiling water. Check seasoning after 3 hours, and season to taste.
6. 30-45 minutes before done, add in 250 ml of milk. Stir well, bring to a simmer, and check the seasoning again. Take off the lid, and let the sauce reduce to your desired consistency. When it’s done, discard the bay leaves, star anise, and cheese rind.
7. Cook your pasta just before the sauce is done. Toss a couple ladles of sauce with the pasta and a bit of the pasta cooking water in a pan over medium heat. Serve with grated Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano. Enjoy!

Storage

Divide the rest of the sauce into individual portions and save them for those busy days. The sauce will last for about five days refrigerated and a long while in the freezer.