By Leslie Brenner

I’ve been craving pasta with ragù bolognese lately, and I’ll bet I’m not the only one. (Maybe I’ve been eating too many healthy beans and greens!)

A few years ago, I became obsessed with the dish, and could not move on with my life until I tried every important or famous recipe the ragù and found out which was the best. Finding lots to love in many of them but unable to settle on one that did it all, I created my own — and wrote about it for the Washington Post.

Along the way, I learned a lot about how ragù bolognese is enjoyed in Italy. Quick digest: In Emilia-Romagna, where it’s from (Bologna is in that region, hence “bolognese”), purists insist on putting the ragù on fresh egg pasta — tagliatelle, to be exact. That’s also the first choice for people outside of Bologna. After that, anything goes — it’s A.O.K. to plop it on spaghetti, or anything pasta you boil up from a box of dried.

READ: We have achieved optimum Bolognese and (are you sitting down?), we grant you permission to put it on spaghetti

Here’s the recipe for Ultimate Bolognese Ragù, along with one for fresh egg tagliatelle:

RECIPE: Ultimate Ragù Bolognese

RECIPE: Fresh Egg Pasta

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