Ingredients:
1kg low fat mince beef meat
3 carrots
3 celery sticks
2 onions
2 large glassed of red wine
1,6kg chopped tomatoes
EVO oil
salt&pepper
Preparation:
Chop very thinly carrots, celery and the onions. If you have a food processor it a good time to use it! I like to have a rough mousse of raw vegetables, this will help the ragu to be very smooth and creamy.
Place a deep large pot on a medium gas hob, cover the bottom with EVO oil and then add the chopped vegetables. Allow a good 6-8 minutes for the vegetables to soften and add the mince meat. Use a wooden spoon to stir and split the lumps of meat. Let the meat turn browner (approximately 8-10 minutes) and pour the 2 large glasses of red wine, turn the heat at full whack until the alcohol evaporates.
Lower the heat to medium, pour the chopped tomatoes, give the sauce a good stir and place the lid on top; stir occasionally.
(suggestion: close your bedroom and living room doors and turn on the extractor fan... the smell is lovely but it will cram the rooms! I usually open the kitchen windows and door for a couple of minutes to generate a fresh flow of air)
After 40 minutes, lower the heat to the minimum, use the wooden spoon as bridge where to lay the lid: in this way your sauce will remain covered for 90%, the small split will allow the vapour to steam out and your sauce will dry to the right texture.
(suggestion: the sauce is very bubbly so in order to avoid having sauce stains everywhere, lay around the hob some slightly wet cotton towels to catch the drops. Be careful that the towels don't take fire! Always watch your cooking are while preparing food!!)
Once you get the texture you wish (for lasagna it should be better to have a slightly liquid sauce, for tagliatelle or pasta it's preferable a more compact one), remove the wooden spoon and cover completely (advisable to have a lid with a steam hole or your lid will bubble as much as your sauce). Keep cooking at lowest setting for approximately 2 hours. The more the better; mine has been cooking for more than 4 hours in total.
Remember to stir occasionally.
Before using it, granny always suggested to leave at rest for a night. In this way the flavours will mix even better!
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