il grande ragù
Ragù is the Italian corruption of the French ragout, referring to slow-simmered vegetables, fish or braised meat.
There are many versions of ragù in Italy but the two most famous are that of Bologna (a slowcooked, milk-based, minced meat and butter sauce for dressing egg pasta (never spaghetti in Italy) and the classic Ragù Napolitano, which is closer to this version.
Here in the traditional cooking of the South, ragù usually refers to a two course meal of slowly braised beef, horse, lamb or mutton, simmered with red wine, tomato and an herb, often bay leaf or rosemary. First there is a pasta course that is dressed with the sauce that is produced (and why many in North America refer to it as ‘gravy’), followed by the remaining meat, stewed tender until falling apart.
The fish versions are very similar with most preferring cernia (what often translates as ‘grouper’) as the fish breaks down, creating a rich pasta but a less impressive second course. It’s also a cleaver way of making a single fish stretch enough to feed everyone.
Accept an invitation to a Sunday lunch (which nearly everyone does in Italy) and the odds are good that you’ll be eating something very close to this. It’s homey, delicious and craftily-thrifty, brilliant in that way that the cooking of the poor so often is.
The secret ingredient in this dish is time, as slow and wet cooking transforms stringy cuts into mouth-watering flavours, twice. The vast majority of the cooking is unattended. If you do this right it should cost less than two Euro per person, so crafty and large-hearted were the women that came before us.
Ingredients
Red meat (or fish, see below), the tougher, cheaper cuts work best. Sausages. Ox tail. Shins. The hardest working muscles will make you the happiest. Olive oil 10 whole garlic cloves, peeled Wine, white or red. (I prefer to cook with white even when drinking red)
Your best tomato sauce, enough to cover the meat, twice.
Fresh bay leaves Chilli pepper flakes Water-based pasta, either fresh or factory (cavatelli is my favourite) Grana (any hard grating cheese, Parmigiano-Reggiano, the most famous) Parsley, chopped Lemon zest.
Directions
In a heavy-bottomed pot, brown the meat in batches, in a little olive oil, the lid off. Take your time with this. You want to produce a lot of colour.
Add the garlic cloves towards the end of browning, careful not to burn them. Deglaze with the wine. Add the tomato sauce, the bay, a touch of chilli (seeking balance, not heat) and salt to taste.
Cover and simmer until meat is fall-off-the-bone tender. Likely at least a few hours. Bigger pieces take longer, so gauge accordingly. This meat will be well done, as all pot roasts are.
With everyone at the table, bring a pot of water to the boil and cook your pasta (factory pasta is ideal here). Extract the sauce from the ragù, leaving behind the meat, adjust the seasoning and dress the pasta when ready. Serve. Grate cheese over the top and pass more at the table. (Skip cheese if doing the fish version).
When ready for your second course, plate up braised meat as tall as possible and sprinkle lots of chopped parsley. Grate a little lemon zest over the top, as if it were cheese (the zip of an acid is always welcome in slow-cooked dishes, distinguishing themselves from the institutional, steam table foods served in schools and prisons around the world).
Some overly-roasted potatoes and some wilted bitter greens would go perfectly.
As this will likely be a large Sunday afternoon dish, consider breaking out a great wine, such as a Taurasi, an aglianico del Vulture, a Salice Salentino or a Castel del Monte.
