Ragù Napoletano

Ragù Napoletano, together with the normal ragù o bolognese are symbols of the traditional Italian cuisine. Very similar to each other in the cooking process, but with a different taste, the ragù Napoletano is made from whole cuts of meat and is slow cooked for at least 6 hours. Perfect for a winter evening or big family meal.

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Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 500g of homemade  or dry pappardelle pasta 
• 700g beef short ribs 
• 350g pork ribs 
• 350g plain Italian sausage
• 4 brown onions 
• 500g can of San Marzano tomatoes 
• 1/2Lt of vegetable stock
• 1 tbsp of tomato paste 
• 200ml of red wine 
• Salt and pepper
• Olive oil 
• Pecorino or Parmigiano cheese to serve

Method

1. Start chopping the pork ribs and the beef short ribs in a way that makes it easier to brown in the pot. Chop the sausage into 3cm long pieces and the all the onions into petals. Season all the meat with a pinch of salt & pepper. 
2. Warm up a large deep pot on a medium high heat. Once hot add 2 tbsp of olive oil and sear all the meat. Do this in batches if they don't fit all at once. Once you browned all the meat, leave it to rest on a plate. 
3. Bring your pot down to a medium heat and add a drizzle more of olive oil if needed before pouring in all the onions petals. Cook and stir the onions until soft and caramelised. This it might take up to 10/15 mins. 
4. Bring the heat back to a medium high temperature and add the tomato paste. Stir and cook it for 20 second. Place the meat back into the pot with all the red wine and let the wine evaporate for about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes straight into the pot with all the vegetable stock. Give to the sauce a good stir then bring it to boil.
5. A soon the ragù starts to boil, put the heat down to a very low heat. Place a wooden spoon over the top of the pot on one side and cover the pot with the lid. The wooden spoon will stop the lid from closing and allowing a bit of steam to escape and the ragù to reduce slowly.
6. Now relax! For the next 5/6 hours keep an eye on the ragù and keep it lightly simmering. The ragù should always make a very lightly boiling sound. Stir the ragù once every 45 mins 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.
7. The ragù will be ready when the sauce is thick, moist and juicy and the meat from the pork ribs and beef are falling off the bone. Try the ragù and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. 
8. When you are ready to eat, warm up the sauce, cook your pasta in generously seasoned boiling water. When the pasta is almost fully cooked remove the meat from the ragù and serve on a plate. Now transfer the pasta to the ragù sauce and add a little pasta water to emulsify the sauce. Serve with shaved Pecorino or Parmesan cheese. 

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