Ragu - the Sunday sauce

 Ragu is a supercharged word for sure. Many Americans think this means bland, weak pasta sauce that comes out of a jar. No no no no, if you're a sauce out-of-jar type you can stop reading now.

Ragu is the most glorious and fulfilling pasta dish in Italy and is as varied as there are regions in Italy. The only constant is that the best ragu, the absolute best is the one made by Mama or Nonna.  <-- ask anyone and they'll tell you this.  A good solid ragu is something everyone who wants to master the basics of Italian cooking needs to master. 

I learned from a class I took in Bologna how to make ragu Bolognese, the restaurant industry standard a few years ago and it's my usual Sunday night sauce. Served over fresh made tagliatelle, it is the meaning of life itself.

But recently I've been making dishes from a book by a Roman writer that so far has not failed to knock my socks off with every recipe.  From Pasta e Fagioli to something as simple as fried zucchini in garlic and mint as an antipasta, this book has never failed to surprise and delight me.  So when I saw her version of a Roman take (Testaccio to be precise) on a daily ragu, I thought I'd give it a try.

I was not disappointed.

On the surface it was similar, but for a few additional entries and at the timing (without the four hours of waiting). Fair enough. so I devoted yesterday's Sunday afternoon to it.  It was too cloudy and gloomy to take a bike ride anyway. 

Ingredienti:

a Soffritto

1 medium onion,  2 small carrots (out of the garden)  1celery stalk, and against my better judgment, a bay leaf * plucked from a tree near my house

*Bay leaves are strong and pungent but I always adhere to a recipe on the first try, even if alarms are going off. It's only fair.

5 oz pancetta. diced

A pound of Ground beef

12 oz of ground pork

3/4 cup of white wine

2 tablespoons of tomato paste mixed into 6 tbsp of water

A cup of whole milk

The How-To

First, as with almost every dish under the sun, one begins with a soffritto (that's a mirepoix in France).  

In a medium/low saucepan tumble in the pancetta and let it slow cook until it's rendering its fat, maybe 2 - 3 minutes - then add the diced onion, minced carrot, and celery (and the dreaded bay leaf) 

Cook this slowly, about 8-10 minutes until the veggies are softening well. A good  2 twists of salt and one of pepper and at the mid-cooking point, a splash of marsala wine* 

*a must for my soffritto.

when the soffritto is ready, add your meat and slash at it with a spatula to mince it, turning it into the soffritto while browning it thoroughly.

When it's completely browned turn up the heat a bit and add the white wine. Listen for "The Sigh." Let it cook off somewhat and then add and stir in the tomato mix. It should turn a somewhat reddish color.

Let it slow simmer for about 30 minutes uncovered.  Don't walk away, you'll want to pay attention to the moisture content and not let it scorch. You'll want it to thicken considerably, but not dry out. Oh, is that vague enough?  lol 

After 30 minutes add about a third of the milk and stir it in. Add salt (around a teaspoon) and a few twists of ground pepper. Still on low heat, cover and simmer for an hour.  Again, keep watch and stir every ten minutes or so, and slowly add more milk when it's looking too dry. I ended up using all but a dribble of the cup.

Finito. 

I like to use freshly made tagliatelle pasta for ragu and yesterday I devoted an hour to making it.  That's another blog post altogether, but I highly recommend honing this skill. There is nothing like it for a ragu. A few eggs some grano OO  and some music in the background and you're good to go.

Godare!