Personally I wouldn't use any water. I'd perhaps add 150-200ml red wine after the beef, let that cook down a bit, then add the tomatoes and simmer it for a long time. If it becomes too dry you can always add a splash of water or stock later on. If, on the other hand, the sauce is too wet, keep simmering until it reduces to the required consistency.

Last edited by john_lee (Sun 04 Jan 09 9:27pm)

If I used water, I would add it to the soffrito after it has sweated, and let it form a rudimentary stock.

I'd brown the beef, anyway.

But, I'll elaborate

I'd add 2 parts water to 1 part soffrito, and let it boil until reduced by half. This would take up the flavour of the soffrito, producing a sort of vegetable stock. You can then add the mince and cook as normal.

There seems to be a few issues with this book in regards to some of the recipes and adding water.

I know Jaime usually always tests his recipes, but somehow, he seems to have not done this with this book.

I tried a Delia recipe (hope JO's not reading) for bolognese ragu just recently - it has quite a bit of meat and also chicken liver, but no carrot or celery, and takes up to four hours baking uncovered in an oven at a low temperature.

My previous attempts from other recipes usually ended up a watery sauce that separated out too easily, but this one really was good and thick, even after freezing and thawing. And though I changed the recipe a bit (and made a couple of mistakes, too!), it still turned out very tasty. Just what I'd expect bolognese to taste like, in fact. There was quite a bit of tomato puree (though I cut back on this) and the cooking time probably helped.