‘Make a good and decent sized pot of ragu and you will never feel left wanting in life.’
OK, we can’t really attribute that statement to any well known Italian proverb here. Nor can we imagine a wizened and wise Nonna, gently muttering this whilst twisting and pinching some tortellini. In fact, we just made it up.
However, when it comes to cooking, it’s always worth going large with the ragu because once it’s done, in the immortal words of D:Ream - Things can only get Better.
For this large batch, we’ve resorted to using 2kg of feather blade over using ground beef, which may seem a bit indulgent. But the central piece of collagen that runs through it really does some magical things to the overall flavour of the meaty stew and at this time of year, it’s worth treating yourself.
In terms of servings, this should cover at least a couple of meals and this ragu would work well for lasagna, ravioli or you could even give it a touch of the Inglese and make some Hachis Parmentier - which is French for Cottage Pie. (We’re playing here, we’re playing here.)
We’ve served with tagliatelle here but the main point we are trying to make is that once this is done and all portioned up, the world really is your oyster and you could probably travel around a bit further.
Time to dust the stock pot off.
Ingredients
200g Cumberland streaky bacon, sliced
2 large onions, peeled and diced
2 celery sticks, diced
6 cloves of garlic, sliced
2 bay leaves
1tbs dried Italian herbs
300g Portabello mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
2kg Feather Blade, sliced into 4 large pieces
1 bottle of red wine
500ml beef stock
2 400g cans of chopped tomato
1 nutmeg, grated
Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
To serve
100g Parmesan cheese, grated
500g dried tagliatelle
50g unsalted butter
Method
Place a large stock pot or casserole over a medium to high heat, add the streaky bacon and quickly fry off in its own rendered fat. Then add the onion and celery and fry off for another 15 minutes, stirring frequently before adding the garlic, bay leaves, dried herbs and cooking for another 2 minutes.
Add the mushrooms and pieces of feather blade and brown everything off, then add the wine, beef stock and tomatoes. Bring everything to the boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer.
Season with the nutmeg, Maldon sea salt and ground black pepper and then cover loosely with a lid.
Leave to gently simmer on the hob for 3 hours, stirring frequently. As you do so, the feather blade will begin to break down and shred.
Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water and then partially drain, keeping at least a ladle of the cooking liquid. Toss the pasta with half the grated Parmesan, the butter and a little of the pasta cooking water, to form an emulsified sauce. Divide the pasta between bowls and pour a good ladle of the feather blade ragu on top. Finish with a scattering of the rest of the cheese.
Leave the rest of the ragu to cool down before portioning up for the fridge or freezer (or snack later in the evening).
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