Pork and Beef Ragu – Tastes of Tuscany
This dish is nothing like the jar of thin, processed, tomato saucy stuff you can buy in a jar at the store. This homemade RAGU is absolutely incredible. It is loaded with flavor from the onion, garlic, carrot and celery that is the basis of the dish to the fresh pork and beef mixture. Just like with most pots of goodness…go low and slow. It’s even better if you cook it on day one and serve it the next. Letting these layers of flavors meld together overnight is worth planning ahead. Each taste of this incredible dish takes me right back to our magical trip to the Chianti region of Tuscany.
It was during our cooking class in Tuscany that my sweet friend, Cathleen, was tasked with learning how to make this amazing sauce under the watchful eye of Nonna Maria. Nonna was the 82 years young matriarch of the family. As with most deeply flavored pasta sauces, Cathleen and Nonna Maria got to work on this early in our day so that it could slowly bubble away on the stove top while we prepped and ate the antipasto and primo courses. It was worth the wait!
Pork and Beef Ragu – Tuscan Style
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1.5 pound ground beef
- 1 pound ground Italian sausage (spicy)
- .5 pound ground pork
- 2 medium onions, finely diced
- 2 large carrots, finely diced
- 3-4 celery sticks, finely diced
- 1 bunch flat leaf parsley, coarse chop
- 6 cups good tomato sauce (San Marzano preferred)
- 1.5 cup tomato puree
- 1.5 cup good red wine
Instructions
- In large stock pot, heat olive oil over medium heat.
- Add onion, carrot, celery and saute until softened (8-10 minutes)
- Stir in ground beef, Italian sausage and pork and cook until no longer pink (approximately 10 minutes)
- Pour in red wine, bring to boil to allow alcohol to evaporate
- Add tomato sauce, tomato puree, sea salt and black pepper. Bring to boil.
- Reduce heat, cover with lid and simmer gently for 2.5 to 3 hours.
- Taste every hour or so for seasoning. Add additional salt and pepper to taste.
- In a large bowl, place your hot cooked pasta and then begin adding the Ragu sauce (you will not need all of it) until you feel like there's a good sauce to pasta ratio. Add a ladle full or two of hot pasta water to the bowl as well…tossing gently.
- Add about 3/4 cups of freshly chopped parsley to the mix.
- Pour mixture into a nice large platter.
- Top with a bit more sauce, freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese and the remaining fresh parsley.
