The first crisp, cool air of autumn always seems so much cleaner and clearer than summer’s hot moistness; aromas ride on it more easily, meeting the nose sharply and firing the imagination and appetite as at no other time of year.

This is when the slow pots of the cold season—the chili, bean soups, minestrone, okra soups, and meat sauces for pasta—come into their own. And of all those slow-simmered aromas and flavors, none speaks to my imagination of autumn quite like the thick, silken meat sauce known all over Italy as Ragù.

Every region has their own version of this classic, from Sicily at the toe of the boot to Lombardy in the North, but none of them can match the mood of a crisp autumn day like the one from Bologna, the city that has often been called the gastronomical capitol of Italy.

Its seasonings are simple and understated, but its flavors are rich and complex—and deeply soul-satisfying. Just like any classic regional dish from other parts of the globe, there are as many variations on Ragù alla Bolognese as there are cooks in and around the city, but since I learned to make it from Marcella Hazan, my own version has mostly followed her lead.

What I love about her version is its balance. There is no chopped up ham or—God forbid—liver; there’s not even any garlic, and the flavor base of vegetables is minimal, but their union is elegant, harmonious, and pitch-perfect.

First, peel and chop a medium yellow onion, wash, string, and chop two ribs of celery, and peel and chop a large carrot. Warm four tablespoons each of unsalted butter and olive oil in a flameproof ceramic or enameled iron Dutch oven over medium heat. As soon as the butter is melted, add the onion and sauté until translucent, then add the celery and carrot and sauté until they begin to soften but not color, just a couple of minutes.

Add one and a half pounds of roughly broken-up ground chuck and cook, crumbling it with a fork, until it has just lost its raw red color. Don’t let it brown. That’s the first mistake that many cooks make. In this case, browning would add an element you don’t want. Now add a large pinch of salt and two cups of dry white wine. Raise the heat, bring it quickly to a boil, and cook until the wine is evaporated, then add about a cup and a half of whole milk and a generous grating of nutmeg. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the milk is evaporated, stirring frequently.

While that’s in progress, seed two large cans of Italian San Marzano tomatoes over a wire mesh sieve set over a large bowl to catch all the juices. Roughly chop the tomatoes and add them to the collected juices along with their packing liquid.

When the milk is evaporated, add the tomatoes and their juices, let it come back to a simmer, and reduce the heat to the lowest possible setting so that the pot simmers lazily, with only an occasional bubble here and there. Let it simmer like that for at least three-to-four hours, five is even better, stirring occasionally to make sure it’s not scorching. Taste and adjust the salt and nutmeg, and let it simmer a few minutes longer.

This will give you a little more than a quart of sauce, enough for two pounds of pasta, serving about a dozen, or 1 pound of pasta, serving about six, with enough leftover sauce for a nine-by-thirteen inch pan of lasagna. When saucing pasta with Ragù, add a lump of butter and a generous half-cup of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano. Pass more cheese separately

The best pot to choose for Ragù is a 5½-quart Emile Henry flameproof Dutch oven, made from Burgundian red clay. It heats slowly and evenly, and allows for that essential long, lazy simmer. An enameled iron Le Creuset French oven of the same size also works well and is what I have at home. Another good choice is the Chantal Copper Fusion Dutch oven or stockpot.