Neapolitan ragù

Neapolitan ragù, known in Italian as ragù alla napoletana or ragù napoletano, is one of the two best known varieties of ragù. It is a speciality of Naples, as its name indicates. The other variety originated in Bologna and is known in Italian as ragù alla bolognese or ragù bolognese. The Neapolitan type is made from two main parts: meat, and tomato sauce to which a few seasonings are added. Two distinctive features are the type of meat and how it is used, as well as the amount of tomato in the sauce. Bolognese versions use very finely chopped meat, while Neapolitan versions use whole meat, taking it from the casserole when cooked and serving it as a second course or with pasta. Preferences for ingredients also differ. In Naples, white wine is replaced by red wine, butter by lard or olive oil, and many basil leaves are used where Bolognese ragù has no herbs. In the Neapolitan recipe, the content may well be enriched by adding raisins, pine nuts, and involtini with different fillings. Milk and cream are not used, and a relative abundance of tomato sauce is preferred, in contrast to Bolognese use of a minimal amount. The tomato season is much longer in more southern Naples than in more northern Bologna. Like the Bolognese, Neapolitan ragù also has quite a wide range of variants, the best known of which is ragù guardaporta ('doorman's ragù').