Ragu Bolognese (Bolognese sauce)

This is one of te key recipes of classic Italian cuisine - every Italian mother and grandmother has a slightly different version, and of course swears by it! Here is mine;)

Ingredients:
- 200 gr minced beef (or 100gr of beef and 100 of pork, for a tastier, if less light, version)
- 1 clove of garlic, still covered in skin
- extravirgin olive oil
- four tablespoons plain tomato sauce (homemade or store-bought)
- half teaspoon of concentrated tomato paste
- a pinch of salt
- 2-3 dried juniper berries (you can find them in the spices section in any large supermarket)
- a few cloves

Cover the bottom of a deep pan with a one-centimeter layer of olive oil, add the garlic clove, and heat gently. Before it becomes too hot, add in the minced meat, and let brown slightly. Before the meat starts drying, stir in your tomato sauce, cloves, berries and tomato paste, mix well, and cover with a lid. Let the sauce cook slowly on low heat for about 30-40 minutes. E' pronto!

This sauce can be used on its own on pasta (possibly fresh egg pasta like tagliatelle) or as the key ingredient for yummy lasagne - this recipe for another post. Enjoy!

Gnocco Fritto (Fried bread ribbons)

Ingredients (calculate 100 gr of flour per person, if serving this as a main course)

500 gr wheat flour
30 gr unsalter butter
1/4 liters of a half-and-half mix of lukewarm sparkling water and milk
salt
frying oil (the traditional recipe commands frying in pig's lard:)

Mix all the ingredients together with your hands until you obtain a smooth, non-sticky but elastic bowl of dough. Place it in a bowl to rest for 30 minutes, then tear it in small pieces and roll it in very thin sheets (0.3 cm) with a rolling pin. Cut the sheets in triangles or squares, then deep fry them in the oil once it reached a very high temperature, in a deep frying pan - the hotter the oil, the deeper the pan, the shortest it takes for the gnocco to fry and thus the less oil it absorbs! It just needs about 10 seconds of cooking - as soon as it starts making bubbles on the surface, it's done. Lay your gnocco on a plate covered in kitchen paper to absorb the excess oil, then serve with a large plate of Italian cured meats (pancetta, prosciutto di Parma, coppa, salame, etc..). Since the dish is quite heavy, it's best to accompany it just with simple raw veggies cut in sticks and presented with a dipping vinaigrette of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Also serves as a great starter or accompaniment to a yummy dish of Italian antipasti (prosciutto, preserved vegetables, olives, etc..).