Slow Italian food at its best, one pot ragu showcasing cheap cuts of meat and simple ingredients to create a rich sauce. This bad boy slow cooks for hours, so wack it on early – set and forget. Pair with your favourite pasta or layer in a lasagne with a naughty Béchamel sauce. This recipe serves 8-10 people but the ragu can also be frozen and reheated for later use.
DIRTY RAGU
Total Time3 hrs 30 mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: pasta, ragu
Servings: 10 people
Equipment
Large Pot or Slow Cooker
Ingredients
2 tbsp Butter
450 Grams Beef (braising or chuck) Cubed
450 Grams Pork shoulder Cubed
2 Carrot Diced
2 Stick of celery Diced
2 Onion Diced
2-3 Garlic cloves
1 Bouquet garni (3 sprigs rosemary, 3 sprigs thyme and 6 sage leaves)
1 Glass Red Wine
400 ml Beef Stock
2 Cans Plum tomatoes
4 tbsp Brussels Pâté Optional
Olive Oil
Parmasan
Instructions
In a large pot brown off beef and pork in the butter + salt & pepper, cook until the meat develops a nice colour (this is where you going to get most of the meaty flavour from the brown bits at the bottom of the pan and on the meat).
Transfer the browned meat to a dish and use the same pan to sweat off the chopped veggies and garlic for 5min. Add in the bouquet of fresh herbs for 2min.
Pour in the glass of red, reduce for 2min. Add the cans of plum tomatoes (crush with your hands or use the back of a spoon) and the beef stock. Reduce for 15min then cover and set the heat to low for 3 hours. Relax.
Uncover and pull the meat apart (it should be super soft). Stir in the pâté and season to taste. Leave uncovered on a medium heat for around 10mins just to finally thicken things up if it's looking a little loose.
Meanwhile cook your pasta of choice. I recommend pappardelle or rigatoni.
Finally, pasta meets sauce, finish with a drizzle of olive oil, cracked pepper and plenty of parmesan.