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La Genovese (Ragù di Cipolle)

La Genovese (Ragù di Cipolle) reads umami 7.5, salinity 6.4 and richness 4.9 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Italian · Naples main, about 5 hr 1 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 8.5 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 5.0 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 3.3 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 1.7 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 5.6 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 1.8 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Umami 7.5 · Salinity 6.4 · Richness 4.9 · Sweetness 4.2 · Funk & Ferment 3.0 · Fruity 2.6 · Citrus 2.5 · Sourness 2.5 · Nutty 2.3 · Floral 1.5 · Warm Spice 1.5 · Bitterness 1.4 · Earthy 1.4 · Allium 1.2 · Herbaceous 0.6 · Heat 0.6

What's in it (12)

• beef girello — 1000 g
• onions — 2000 g
• carrot — 100 g
• celery — 100 g
• prosciutto — 60 g
• dry white wine — 250 g
• extra virgin olive oil — 74 g
• ziti spezzati — 400 g
• parmesan cheese — 60 g
• pecorino romano cheese — 40 g
• salt — 10 g
• freshly ground black pepper — 7 g

Time & effort: about 5 hr 1 min · effort: involved

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 40.4 kcal, 1.6 g protein, 1.1 g fat, 5.4 g carbs

Dietary: Contains meat · Contains dairy — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (8 steps)

1. There is no tomato in this dish. La Genovese is Naples' other great ragù, and its colour and sweetness come entirely from onions cooked past the point most cooks would stop. Two kilos looks absurd; it reduces to about a third of its volume.
2. Heat the olive oil in a heavy pot, add the chopped prosciutto ends, carrot and celery and cook 6 minutes over medium heat. Add the beef and brown it on all sides, 12 minutes, then season with the salt and pepper.
3. Bury the beef under all the sliced onions. It will not fit, and then it will: press them down, cover the pot tightly and cook over low heat for 45 minutes without touching it. The onions release enough water to submerge everything.
4. Uncover and cook on, at a lazy simmer, for 3 to 4 hours. For the first two hours the onions stay pale and soupy. Then the liquid goes, the mass turns first straw, then honey, then a deep russet brown, and it begins to catch on the base. From that point stir every ten minutes and scrape the brown film back in; that film is the flavour. Add a splash of hot water if it threatens to burn.
5. When the onions are a dark jammy purée and the beef gives no resistance to a fork, pour in the wine and simmer 15 minutes more to cook off the alcohol and lift the last of the fond.
6. Lift the beef out and keep it warm. Cook the ziti spezzati in well-salted water for 1 minute under the packet time and toss them with two-thirds of the onion sauce and both cheeses, adding a little pasta water to loosen.
7. Serve the pasta first, as the primo, and the beef afterwards, sliced, with the remaining sauce spooned over. Eating it in that order is not a formality in Naples; it is the dish.
8. Substitutions: shin can stand in for the beef girello; salame ends can stand in for the prosciutto; paccheri can stand in for the ziti spezzati.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Beef Sukiyaki Hot Pot — Japanese
• Ragù Bolognese (Tagliatelle al Ragù) — Italian
• Grilled Beef Kebabs with Peppers and Onions — American
• Pork Tonkatsu — Japanese
• Beef Teriyaki Stir-Fry with Vegetables — Japanese

Keep reading: what umami, salinity, richness mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.