One of My Favorite Sauces for Fresh Pasta
My friend Geoff is an excellent cook and an even better baker. You may have seen his recipe for The Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie.
He has also shared with me his Apple Pear Cake and Chocolate Cake recipes. He is also a wonderful pasta maker.
At least once a year, my buddy Barbecue Bob and I head on over to Geoff’s house to make 3 to 4 different types of pasta served with different sauces. Geoff has been working hard at perfecting his ragu, an Italian sauce made with ground meats, onions, tomatoes and wine and I think he found it with this recipe for pork ragu.
Barbecue Bob and Geoff
Pork Ragu Recipe
A Great Ragu for Fresh Pasta
Prep Time15 mins
Cook Time2 hrs 20 mins
Total Time2 hrs 35 mins
Servings: 6 - 8 people
Ingredients
- olive oil
- ½ pound pancetta cut into small dice
- 3 pounds pork shoulder also called Boston butt, 1/2 inch cubes
- 2 tablespoons Emeril’s Essence Seasoning or one of your favorites
- 4 cloves garlic chopped
- 2 carrots chopped
- 2 celery ribs chopped
- 1 sweet onion
- 1½ cups dry white wine
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- 28 ounces diced tomatoes and their juices
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh sage leaves chopped
- ¾ cup heavy cream
- Parmesan freshly grated
- 3 pounds fresh pasta cooked al dente
Instructions
- In a food processor, puree garlic, carrots, celery and onions into a coarse paste. Reserve.
- In a large heavy pot, heat the oil over medium high heat.
- Add the pancetta and sauté, stirring often, until fat is rendered and the pancetta is light brown and crispy. Remove Pancetta to a bowl and reserve.
- Season the pork with Essence Seasoning. Using fresh oil for each batch (I used pancetta fat for first batch), brown the cubed pork thoroughly in small batches. The pan should accumulate the brown color from the meat. Reserve each batch of browned pork with pancetta.
- Once all meat is browned and reserved, pour out old oil.
- Add small amount fresh olive oil to the pot.
- Add pureed veggies to the pot, season them with salt, and brown them. Do not burn.
- Deglaze the pan with white wine and reduce until nearly evaporated (several minutes). Return the pork and the pancetta to the pot.
- Add the diced tomatoes tomato paste, chicken stock, salt, pepper, sage and thyme. Bring to a boil while stirring.
- Reduce heat to low-medium, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the meat is very tender (about two hours). Remove from heat.
- Stir in the heavy cream.
- Adjust seasoning to taste and cover to keep warm while preparing pasta.
- Add fresh cooked pasta to the Ragu in the pot, toss it and serve.
- Sprinkle fresh Parmesan to taste over top.
- Serve immediately.
Can I leave out the heavy cream?
Hi Donna, as I say with most recipes, make any changes you want to make a recipe your own. Will it taste different sure but that may be a good thing for you. The heavy cream does add flavor and richness to this dish but I’m guessing you are either watching your calories or cutting back on dairy so try substituting something else.