Stocks and broths are so important to many ragùs that they deserve some time in the limelight. I’m presenting a handful here which are used throughout my recipes and are ideally suited for the bolognese dishes they enhance.

What is the difference between a stock and a broth?

In English speaking interpretations a stock is made with the bones, joints and more gelatinous parts of the animal, whereas a broth will include more cuts of the flesh from the animal.

You will see Italian recipes call for a measure of brodo. To work out if this means a stock or a broth there’s not really any point in calling out the literal translation. It is more important to understand the makeup of the liquefied animal remains that contribute to a good Italian ragù.

My experience (at least with northern Italian cooking) is that a brodo is halfway between a stock and a broth. It incorporates bones, joints and flesh for a nicely rounded taste.

Why is it important to make your own brodo?

The ragùs I present will almost always contain homemade brodo. The depth of flavour you add by making your own is unrivalled if you follow my instructions.

Store bought stock concentrates deliver flavour through salination. Most people who are surprised at how good stock pots taste just don’t have an appreciation for the measure of salt a good chef will add to enhance the flavour of a dish. A good stock pot will often just force the home cook’s hand and push them towards a restaurant helping of salt.

Things are often worse with the powdered stocks which lack any discernible flavour and border on tasting like pot noodle seasoning.

This isn’t a pretentious dig at “processed” foods. There are plenty of examples where I can get on the processed train. Canning tomatoes adds a mild pressure which squeezes flavour out of the tomato pips. A pinch of citric acid in a passata efficiently brings the sauce to life. And good luck trying to emulate a decent tomato puree without building your own factory.

A homemade brodo gives you the perfect balance of what the animal has to offer and, if done right, should be less opinionated on flavour allowing the cook to decide the direction the meal takes.

How to make a good brodo

The steps to make a good brodo appear to be alarmingly simple that it is a wonder there is ever a debate about their application. The basic story goes like this:

• Chop a soffritto of onions, carrots and celery and add to a pan.
• Place the bones, joints and flesh of the animal in the same pan.
• Cover with cold water. Bring to a simmer and leave for an extended period.

However, there is devil in the details which I’ll walk you through in the following dos and don’ts.

Keep it simple

The more elaborate you make your stock, the more opinionated it becomes and, in turn, the fewer options you have with regards to its application. This means adding no herbs, spices or salt. They can all be added later (I sometimes make an exception for chicken stock which I will explain further).

Also dispense with the wine. Adding it to the brodo provides no benefits over adding it to your finished dish but does narrow your options.

A good brodo starts with a simple soffritto of carrots, onions and celery plus the meat from which you wish to extract flavour.

There’s no need to peel your carrots.

There’s nothing wrong with the skin of a carrot that a good wash can’t fix. Peeling carrots before making your brodo is a wasted step.

You don’t need to finely dice your soffritto ingredients.

You want to increase the surface area of your vegetables which is best achieved with a very fine slice. There’s no shame in using a mandolin to perform this action. It is likely it had better knife skills than you (just watch your fingers!)

You shouldn’t undercook your soffritto.

With a brodo destined for a ragù, we’re looking for a depth of flavour. Start by gently frying your soffritto in animal fats until each element has a deep, dark appearance. This advice wouldn’t extend to a delicate broth for fish but for a ragù it should be the mantra.

Roast your meat before adding to the brodo.

Similarly for a robust meaty flavour, roast your meat in the oven to enrich with more flavour. The roasted tones will come through in your final dish.

The animal only has so much to give.

There’s nothing wrong with recycling the chicken carcass from your Sunday roast, but there’s a limit to how much can be extracted. You’ll already have lost a lot to the gravy and juices and will receive diminishing returns from pre-cooked meats. You’re better served starting with uncooked (yet economical) cuts of meat.

The best cuts for a brodo have a bit of everything.

I find ribs to be the best part of the animal for a brodo as they contain a good mix of flesh, bones and joints. Pork rib and chicken carcass work great. Beef rib is a little too meaty (and expensive) for a brodo, so I switch to oxtail in most cases.

Use a pressure cooker to capture the aromas.

If you boil a vat of stock on the stove, all the delicious aromas that fill the room are being wasted on your walls. A pressure cooker will force the aromas back into the liquid and capture the optimal amount.

By the same logic, don’t release the pressure as soon as your brodo is finished. You’ll be releasing those aromas, just this time at a faster rate. Allow the pressure cooker to fully cool and come back to ambient pressure which allows the brodo to keep hold of its aromas.

Limit your volume of water.

Your pressure cooker should contain just enough water to cover the meat. Any more is liquid you’re likely to want to evaporate which carries the risk of aroma-loss, unless done at a slow pace.

Refrigerate to separate dripping from brodo.

Placing your cooled brodo in the fridge will allow the fats to congeal and float to the top of the bowl. You’ll be able to scrape them off for use as dripping in your ragùs. Animal fats are a vital component of a good ragù and sometimes you’ll need a fat-flavoured boost to accompany a lean cut of meat.

Be prepared to break these rules.

If you’re organised about you brodos, you should always be able to pull something out of the freezer, but this isn’t always possible. Don’t fall into ragù paralysis and think you can’t make your favourite sauce because you don’t have the right brodo. A cube of Oxo can, and should, save the day occasionally.

A brodo for all occasions

There are three core brodos up for consideration for most of my ragùs.

Beef brodo

A good beef brodo is the basis of a rich ragù and normally paired with predominantly beef based meat combinations. I begin by browning and roasting oxtail sections with a high fat content beef mince. We’re looking for a deep brown finish as the meats dry and render their fats. The flavour will be intensely rich and slightly gamey.

Pork brodo

Pork brodo is great for adding a savoury note to lighter ragùs (like pork based ones, unsurprisingly). Roasted pork ribs and high fat pork mince provide not only a great brodo but also a decadent lard, which can be used to great effect as a velvetiser, especially to accompany beef ragùs.

Chicken brodo

The most versatile brodos are definitely those derived from chickens. They can be used with any meat as a rich flavour enhancer. If I’m planning ahead I will buy big packs of chicken wings, which have a great balance of bones, fat and gelatinous joints. I will also regularly butcher whole chickens and carve out breasts, legs, wings and the carcass on the rare occasions I’m not preparing a ragù (😱). The wings and carcass are as good as it gets for a brodo.

Chicken brodo is the occasional exception to the “keep it simple” rule. For me, roast chicken has such a strong association with garlic and thyme that I find adding it to my brodos tricks my mind into believing the liquid has a more roasted and richer taste. Your mileage may vary with this advice so feel free to exclude the additions for a purer chicken stock finish.

Brilliant brodos

I hope this information about brodos has been useful. The most important takeaway is that it really is worth the effort.

It can look like a large commitment of time to the uninitiated, but with practice the whole thing is wrapped up with very little attention. Brodos freeze well, so with a constant stream of new stock you’ll always have something ready to produce from the freezer at short notice.

Directions

Beef brodo

1. Wash the carrots and finely slice the onions and carrots using a mandolin.
2. Using a large pan or casserole, cook the butter until foaming. Add the onions, carrots and star anise. Cook on a medium heat until the onions and carrots are turn to a deeper colour. The beef brodo should have a rich taste so requires these ingredients to be cooked for longer.
3. Transfer the vegetables to a pressure cooker and turn up the heat. Add the oxtail sections and sear until brown on all sides.
4. Transfer the oxtail sections to an oven dish and surround with the beef mince. The oven dish should be as large as possible so you can have as thin a layer of beef mince as possible.
5. Deglaze the pan or casserole with a little water and a wooden spatula and pour the water into the pressure cooker.
6. Place the oven dish in an oven pre-heated to 200 degrees. Cook for about 1 hour, or until the mince has turned a very dark brown. You may need to break the mince up occasionally to fully roast throughout.
7. Transfer the oxtail and beef mince to the pressure cooker. Deglaze the oven dish with water and a spatula and add the water to the pressure cooker.
8. Fill the pressure cooker up with just enough water to cover the meats. Put on full heat and bring to pressure for one hour.
9. Turn the heat off and allow the mix to cool until the pressure reduces to ambient pressure. Remove the lid and pass the ingredients through a fine chinois or sieve and into a bowl.
10. Transfer the bowl to the fridge and allow to rest for at least 12 hours.
11. Scrape the congealed fat from the surface of the bowl and transfer to an airtight container.
12. Scoop out the brodo and squash into the holes of ice cube trays before freezing.

Pork brodo

1. Wash the carrots and celery and finely slice the onions, carrots and celery using a mandolin. Peel and smash the garlic.
2. Add the butter to a pan or casserole and fry until foaming. Add the soffritto vegetables and cook on a low heat until the onions turn translucent (about 15 minutes). Once cooked, add to the pressure cooker.
3. Arrange the pork ribs and mince in an oven dish so that the pork ribs do not cover the mince and vice versa.
4. Cook the meats in a pre-heated oven for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the mince has turned a deep brown. Turn the ribs evey 20 minutes during this time.
5. Transfer the roasted meats to the pressure cooker. Deglaze the oven dish with boiling water and add to the soffritto and meat mix.
6. Fill the pressure cooker up with just enough water to cover the meats. Put on full heat and bring to pressure for one hour.
7. Turn the heat off and allow the mix to cool until the pressure reduces to ambient pressure. Remove the lid and pass the ingredients through a fine chinois or sieve and into a bowl.
8. Transfer the bowl to the fridge and allow to rest for at least 12 hours.
9. Scrape the congealed fat from the surface of the bowl and transfer to an airtight container.
10. Scoop out the brodo and squash into the holes of ice cube trays before freezing.

Chicken brodo

1. Wash the carrots, celery and leek and finely slice the onions, carrots, celery and leek using a mandolin. Peel and smash the garlic.
2. Fry the soffritto ingredients in three tablespoons of oil with the bay leaf, thyme and pepper until the onion turns translucent. Transfer to the pressure cooker.
3. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Roast the chicken wings in a oven dish for 45 minutes to 1 hour.
4. Transfer the chicken wings to the pressure cooker and deglaze the oven tray with boiling water.
5. Fill the pressure cooker up with just enough water to cover the meat. Put on full heat and bring to pressure for one hour.
6. Turn the heat off and allow the mix to cool until the pressure reduces to ambient pressure. Remove the lid and pass the ingredients through a fine chinois or sieve and into a bowl.
7. Transfer the bowl to the fridge and allow to rest for at least 12 hours.
8. Scrape the congealed fat from the surface of the bowl and transfer to an airtight container.
9. Scoop out the brodo and squash into the holes of ice cube trays before freezing.