Two years ago I spent a couple of wonderful months in San Lazarro. If you don't know where it is, let's say in Bologna. Yes! In Bologna, the capital of gastronomy. I worked in a farm to table restaurant, both on the fields and in the kitchen. I learnt many, many things and worked with food on all possible ways. Planting, taking care of the plants, harvesting them, washing, cleaning, peeling, chopping, cooking them...so farm to table for real! This is what Podere San Guliano knows the best. The circle of life...

I learnt how to pair music to different dishes, which is extremely important. I learnt how to make homemade pasta and bolognese ragu from scratch. And I learnt that pasta bolognese likes Giuseppe Verdi's Nabucco the most. Drink the same wine you cook with. Pamper your tastebuds, your nose, your ears, your eyes and your hands. Use all your senses for this dish (and for everything else you cook) and wait. Drink more wine, enjoy Nabucco and wait more. Let the food get into harmony with the music and you, and give enough time to be cooked! Try, and you won't be disappointed with the result. Does this sound like drugery in the kitchen?! I don't think so...

So here comes the Italian inspired bolognese ragu recipe and the original pasta recipe from Podere San Giuliano

Pasta ingredients (per person)

100 g biodynamic, local, stoneground flour

1 free-range, biodynamic/organic egg

experimenting with saffron (diluted in oil) to make saffron flavored and colored pasta

 

Mix the two ingredients, knead with your hands until you get an evenly homogeneous and flexible dough. Wrap it into foil, let is rest for about 20 minutes. Roll it out into a ca. 40 cm diameter circle, fold it like a hand fan about 5 cm wide. Slice it crosswise, 0,5 cm wide. Use a lot of flour while making the pasta, otherwise it will stick (to everything) and you will end up with a mess (and sworn not to make pasta ever again).

Now you have fresh pasta. In boiling water it takes about 2 minutes to cook it. Leave this as the very last thing to do before serving. If you made too much, you can also freeze it.

Don't expect to end up with a good meal, unless you pay attention to good quality ingredients. If you care about the origin of the meat, the vegatables, the fat, the egg, the wine and also the spices, they will ensure you about the best possible result, feed you well and make this ragu unforgettable for a lifetime. And that is what we all want and what actually really matters.

Ragu ingredients

150 g biodynamic/organic and local bacon

2 tbsp lard, olive oil

2 carrots

1 onion

1 stem celery

500 g minced pork from a local, biodynamic farm

400 ml tomato sauce

150 ml preferably white wine from a (local), biodynamic wineyard

salt

pepper

olive oil for serving

This is a ragu, which means you do not have to follow the exact weight of the ingredients. This is more like a guideline. You can add more spices, more and different kind of wine. You can just as well cook it from beef and so forth...

Sauté the cubed or sliced bacon in the fat on low temperature, set aside, keep the pan. Chop all three vegetables extremely small, and cook them on very low temperature for at least 20 minutes. Turn up the heat, add the minced meat, and brown it. Listen for a sizzling sound. When you hear it, pour the wine over the meat and burn the alcohol. Keep the temperature high for about 5 minutes, and while lowering it add the tomato sauce. Empty the tomato jar/can and pour water in it. Keep it for adding more water to the ragu. On this way, there is less dishwashing, because you don't use a clean glass for the water. On this way you basically clean the can, so it can go directly to the recycling. If it is a jar, I always encourage for keeping it and reuse it, instead of recycling...Keep the stove on the lowest possible temperature for at least 3 hours. While it is cooking, adjust the taste. Add more salt, pepper or a splash of wine/vinegar/lemon juice to balance the acidity. Don't go very far away from the kitchen, keep an eye on the ragu. But you are more or less free to do whatever you want. Make the pasta maybe?

Just before serving cook the pasta, strain it and add it to the ragu. Mix it well and serve it with extra olive oil. Grate parmesan cheese on the top if you have a chunk in the fridge. Why wouldn't you have, when it is literally good for EVERYTHING?!

Buon Appetito!