Bolognese sauce

Bolognese sauce, known in Italian as ragù alla bolognese or ragù bolognese (called ragù in Bologna, ragó in Bolognese dialect), is the main variety of ragù in Italian cuisine. It is associated with the city of Bologna.

Ragù alla bolognese is a slowly cooked meat-based sauce, and its preparation involves several techniques, including sweating, sautéing, and braising. Ingredients include a characteristic soffritto of onion, celery, and carrot, and different types of minced or finely chopped beef, often alongside small amounts of fatty pork. White wine, milk, and a small amount of tomato paste or tomato sauce are added, and the dish is then gently simmered at length to produce a thick sauce. Ragù alla bolognese is customarily used to dress tagliatelle al ragù and to prepare lasagne alla bolognese.

Outside Italy, the phrase "Bolognese sauce" is often used to refer to a tomato-based sauce to which minced meat has been added; such sauces typically bear little resemblance to Italian ragù alla bolognese, being more similar in fact to ragù alla napoletana from the tomato-rich south of the country. Although in Italy ragù alla bolognese is not used with spaghetti (but rather with flat pasta, such as tagliatelle), in Anglophone countries, "spaghetti bolognese" has become a popular dish.