To make Italian beef ragu, I use 1 carrot, 1 celery stick and 1 white onion. Saute the chopped veggies in a large pan with a little olive oil. The key is to saute the veg slowly on a low/medium heat so they soften and release all the delicious flavours without browning or burning (around 7-8 minutes, photo 1)
This Italian ragu is slow-cooked because it needs time to develop all the incredible flavours BUT it's not as time-consuming as you may think. Because this classic beef ragu recipe is made with ground beef and pork it doesn't need as much time as a big chunk of meat would to break down and tenderise.
Beef is a lean meat whereas pork is much sweeter and fattier and adds a tonne of extra flavour to a ragu. Trust me, when you try using 50% beef and pork instead of all beef you’ll notice a huge difference in flavour and that’s exactly how it’s made in Italy.
This ragu needs a minimum of 2.5 hours cooking time so you can easily make it only a few hours before serving it. That being said the longer it has to simmer the better the flavour will be, just remember that you'll need to keep topping up with water or stock to stop it reducing too much.