Tagliatelle al Ragù Bianco
Those of us with American palates are likely used to a classic tomato Ragù or bolognese, which is ground meat, often beef, simmered in a tomato-based sauce for a long period of time.
However, what you might not be familiar with is a white Ragù, or Ragù Bianco, served in the Northern regions of Italy, which swaps the tomatoes in a standard Ragù for chicken stock or broth.
Much like the sauce for my blecs in a previous article, this white Ragù focuses on 4 simple ingredients: ground beef, onions, rosemary, and chicken stock, but the depth of flavor you achieve in the end is mind-blowing.
Paired with golden and tender fresh tagliatelle pasta, and you have an incredibly flavorful dish that comes together in minutes.
Tagliatelle al Ragù Bianco
Servings: 4 to 6
Two batches of my perfect fresh pasta recipe, see link below but omit the whole eggs and use 10 egg yolks instead, leave out the salt, and add 1/4 cup of water.
(Or use 1 pound of dried tagliatelle)
https://the-s-word.net/pastaandpizza/how-to-make-perfect-fresh-pasta
1/4 cup of olive oil
1 large onion, finely diced
1 pound of ground beef
1 teaspoon of salt
2 rosemary sprigs
1 cup of unsalted chicken stock/broth
1 cup of grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper
(If using dried pasta, then skip this step)
Make, rest, roll, and cut the pasta into the wide tagliatelle shape according to my instructions in the article, with the augmentations mentioned. You can start cooking the Ragù while the pasta dough is resting.
(In case anyone was wondering, the difference between tagliatelle and fettuccine is that tag is traditionally made with egg and semolina, while fettuccine does not contain egg.)
Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil.
Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium-low heat, then add the chopped onion and sweat, covered, for about 10 minutes or until the onions are translucent.
Sweating is different from sautéing in that it involves a much lower heat, the idea is to get the onions soft without browning them. Although it’s not the end of the world if your onions get a little brown like mine did.
Add the ground beef, and stir to break up the beef then cover and cook for 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the beef is cooked through.
Add the salt, rosemary sprigs, and chicken broth. Bring to a simmer, then cook for 10-15 minutes to let the flavor develop.
When the sauce is close to being done, add the tagliatelle to the boiling water and cook until al dente, 2 minutes for fresh and 7-9 minutes for dried.
Reserve about a cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain.
Remove the rosemary sprigs from the Ragù, stir in the grated parmesan, and season with salt and pepper. Soon you’ll see the cheese thickening the sauce slightly and making it a little bit creamier.
Stir the pasta with the Ragù and loosen it with the pasta cooking water if necessary.
This dish is another prime example of what happens when simple flavors are done the right way. The Ragù has a lot of depth of flavor from the onions, the beef, and the stock, and is all meant to be slurped up with that golden tagliatelle.
