How to Make Tagliatelle Bolognese like Flour + Water

Eating a pasta with some kind of thick sauce or gravy is something that is pat of almost every kids childhood. However the bolognese sauce has taken over so many iterations around the world, who knows if you have actually eaten anything close to an original recipe. A good bolognese is all about melding the flavors together, which takes a good amount of time. I’ve heard this from many chefs, but the saying goes, “good cooking waits for no one”. Which is especially true for pasta sauces. Bolognese is so beloved and protected in Bologna, that the recipe was codified and made official by the city in the 1970s. Even the size of tagliatelle is standardized.

The bolognese showdown! I recently made SPQRs Bolognese and it was definitely a winner, so I was very excited to give Flour + Water’s a shot.

Hope you enjoy this version, I certainly did.

Cookbook – Flour + Water

Ingredients –

Pasta Dough –

Flour + Water Egg Dough

Bolognese Ragu –

Olive oil – 2 tbsp
1 Medium yellow onion – finely chopped (255 grams)
1 Celery stock – finely chopped (68 grams)
1 carrot – finely chopped (136 grams)
Ground Beef – 12 oz (340 grams)
Ground pork – 5.5 oz (156 grams)
Pancetta – chopped – 3.5 oz (99 grams)
Chicken stock – 3 cups
Tomato paste – 2 tbsp
Milk – 1 cup
Salt
Pepper
Red wine vinegar – to taste (recipe doesn’t call for it, but it adds a nice pop of acidity)

To Finish –

Unsalted butter – 1/2 cup (1 stick)
Salt
Fresh grated Parmesan

Tools –

Pasta Roller
Pasta Drying rack – go for at least a two tier
Large pot or pan

Step 1 – Make the dough

Follow the recipe for the Flour + Water egg pasta dough. Continue to roll out the dough to about 1/16 inch thick (the second to last setting on my roller). The dough should be barely be transparent. If the dough feels flimsy and can easily be seen through, you have gone too far. Hand cut into tagliatelle strips, or use a designated cutter included in most rollers.

Step 2 – Make the Bolognese Ragu

In a large heavy pot or pan, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the onion, celery, and carrot. Saute until soft, 8-10 minutes. This is a soffrito, which is commonly used as a base to sauces in Italy. Add the beef, pork, and pancetta; saute until browned. Break up the meat with the back of a spoon or spatula, about 15 minutes. Add 2.5 cups of stock and the tomato paste, stir to incorporate. Reduce heat to very low and gently simmer, stir occasionally, about 2 hours. Season with salt and pepper.

Bring the milk to a light simmer in a small sauce pan. Gradually add to the sauce. Cover the sauce with a lid slightly ajar and simmer over low heat, stirring occasionally, until the milk is absorbed. About 1 hour, adding more stock only is the ragu is too thin.

Step 3 – Finish you dish

Heat a large pot of season water to a boil.

Add the butter to the ragu and mix together. I am usually making sauce for two, so I move some sauce to a smaller saute pan to make finishing the noodles easier.

Drop the noodles in the water. Depending on how dry the pasta is (I dry mine all the way), cook time can be anywhere from 2-4 minutes. Cook to 80% of desired doneness, as the noodle will continue to cook when in the sauce. Check by pulling a noodle out and trying a piece during the cook. When done, strain, and add to the ragu. Incorporate the noodles, continue to simmer. When the pasta sauce coats and stick to the noodles, the pasta is ready. Enjoy!

Now for the scoring…

Difficulty of ingredients to find – 3/5 stars – A trip to a normal market should suffice. The meats can all be slightly substituted as well if it is not exactly that.

Perceived difficulty going into the recipe – 3/5 stars – Not easy, but not overly difficulty. Mainly takes times and stirring. If you are not used to making pasta, then it might be harder.

Difficulty after the recipe – 2.5/5 stars – I am used to making pasta, and the is easy to make, it just takes time which a lot of people do not want to take. Good cooking waits for no one!

Time taken – 5/5 stars – Will probably take more than 4 hours especially if you decide to make the dough and noodles same day, which I would not recommend.

Taste – 4.5/5 stars – Very very good dish with few flaws. We liked this one better than the SQPR one, but not by much. Either or are an amazing option for dinner.

Would I Make again – 4.5/5 stars – Yeah this is an amazing dish. A real stunner if making for friends, or just yourself 🙂

Which Bolognese was better?

So would I choose SPQR or Flour + Water Bolognese? Flour + Water edges it by a little bit. I also like the dough/noodles better. Both are amazing options, but for something slightly more refined, Flour + Water is amazing. The one thing I would maybe try next time on the Flour + Water recipe that I liked from SPQR was to use a food processor for the Soffrito. Even though everything is finely chopped, you can’t match a food processor. It makes folding in everything easier.

Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!