A tried and tested (and tested) Bolognese recipe

Last year, my seasonal craving for ragu Bolognese — the famous long-simmered meat sauce from Italy's Emilia-romagna region — failed to move on once the weather warmed up. Instead, it mushroomed into an obsession.

Now a burning (nay, simmering!) question gripped me: What is the very best Bolognese recipe of them all? I would cook my way in search of an answer.

What defines ragu Bolognese? That depends on whether you rely on history (Pellegrino Artusi's 1891 recipe), consult the Accademia Italiana della Cucina's official 1982 recipe, or go by what Bologna's famous cooking schools teach students.

What the three definitions have in common is that ragu Bolognese is a simmered sauce made with ground meat, plus carrots, onion and celery (collectively known as soffritto) browned in fat, and usually broth or stock. Tomatoes were not originally included. In terms of meats, Artusi called for veal and pancetta, while the Accademia calls for beef and pancetta. While Artusi did not specify a cooking time, very long simmering is a requirement: The Accademia called for two hours after the meat browns; many other recipes call for three or more.

These days, most respected versions call for ground beef and often pork, plus pancetta. All

begin with some combination of olive oil, butter and/or pancetta or other pork fat. All call for soffritto and tomato, and two or three of the following: wine,

stock and milk.

I considered my three favorites: Domenica Marchetti's, Lidia Bastianich's and Thomas Mcnaughton's. I couldn't single

out one as best; there was something I'd tweak in each. So I stepped back, put my notes in a spreadsheet (to the amusement of my cellmates - er, family), and

created my own recipe.

Lips smacking, forks twirling, grated Parmesan fluttering, they gave the new recipe their unanimous approval.