Ragu' Napoletano

Ingredients: 

500g of pappardelle pasta (fresh)

700g beef short ribs

350g pork ribs

350g plain sausage

4 brown onions (chopped in petals or roughly chopped)

500g of plum tomatoes (San Marzano is best)

½ litre of vegetable stock

1 tbsp of tomato paste

200ml of red wine (we like to use Chianti)

Salt and pepper for seasoning

Olive oil

Parsley

Pecorino

Made from whole cuts of beef short ribs, pork ribs and sausage as well as a solid dash of wine, this recipe from Chef Francesco Mattana was more than enough to catch our eye and capture our hearts here at Parson's Nose, and so we have decided to share it with you.

Hailing straight from Napoli, this ragu' is another one of those delightful symbols of traditional Italian cuisine and is famous around the world. The meat is slow cooked for 6 hours, hence requiring some dedication but there is no doubt that the results are worth the wait. The slow cooking process leaves you with an amazing sauce from the whole cuts which is traditionally served with pasta as a first course (primi), and the actual meat is served at the table as a main. You get two meals in one, very much rewarding your efforts and giving you an authentic Napoletano feel, even here in the heart of London. 

Enjoy!

Directions: 

1. Start warming up a big pot on a medium high heat (the bigger the better!)
2. When your pot is nice and hot, carefully add 2 tbsp of olive oil.
3. Start to sear all the meat.
4. Starting with the beef short ribs, colour all the sides of it and then set it on the side out of the pot.
5. In the same way, sear the pork ribs and sausage and set all the meat on the side outside of the pot.
6. Bring your pot down to a medium heat and add 2 tbsp of olive oil if needed and all the chopped onions.
7. Cook the onions until nice and caramelised - you want to see a lightly brown colour on them.
8. At this point, once you have the onions nice and caramelised, bring the heat back to a medium high temperature and add the meat back into the pot with all the red wine.
9. Let the wine evaporate for about 5 minutes then add the tomatoes straight into the pot with all the water.
10. Give to the sauce a good stir then bring it to boil.
11. When the ragu' starts to boil, put the heat down to a very low heat.
12. Place a wooden spoon over the top of the pot. Then cover the pot with the lid (the wooden spoon will stop the lid from closing, allowing the steam to escape).
13. Now relax! This process is very important - you don't have to do anything for the next 5-6 hours BUT you always need to keep an eye on your sauce.
14. The ragu' should always make a very lightly boiling sound for the 5-6 hours, we would suggest that you stir the ragu' once every 45 minutes to stop the sauce sticking to the bottom of the pan. You don't want the sauce to be too wet as it's reducing, but you also don't want it to dry out completely after only one hour. The sauce needs to reduce slowly to let the flavours infuse.
15. The ragu' will be ready when the sauce is a thick consistency, the water has all evaporated and the pork ribs and beef are falling off the bone.
16. Lastly, try the ragu' and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper until you're happy

To check out more of Chef Francesco's recipes head to Planet Eat!