Bologna is the Italian city that gives Bolognese meat sauce its name. The sauce is known locally as ragù or ragù alla bolognese and comes from Bologna in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy.
Traditional ragù alla bolognese is a slowly cooked sauce built around minced or finely chopped meat, often beef with pork or pancetta. It also includes a soffritto of onion, carrot, and celery, along with wine, milk, and a modest amount of tomato paste or sauce. In Bologna, it is traditionally served with fresh tagliatelle and used in lasagne alla bolognese.
Outside Italy, “Bolognese” often means a tomato-heavy minced-meat sauce served with spaghetti. That international version is widely understood, but it differs from the more restrained, slow-cooked ragù associated with Bologna. In Italy, spaghetti bolognese is not the traditional pairing.