Cooks Country Pork Ragu Food

PORK RAGOUT WITH PAPPARDELLE PASTA

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, salt both sides of each rib, then add to the pot and cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Remove to a plate.
• Reduce the heat to medium. Add the garlic, carrot, celery, onion, bell pepper and 1/2 teaspoon salt, stir to combine and then partially cover with a lid. Cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are soft, about 6 minutes. Add the wine, bay leaves, thyme, crushed red pepper and 1/2 teaspoon salt and simmer until most of the wine has evaporated, about 2 minutes. Nestle in the browned ribs (and any accumulated juices), then add the crushed tomatoes and 1 1/2 cups of water (it's nice to rinse the tomato can out with water and then use 1 1/2 cups of that "tomato water"). Bring to a high simmer, then adjust to a low simmer and cover the pot partially with the lid. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the meat is tender and falling apart and the sauce has reduced, about 2 hours. Be sure to scrape down the sides of the pot and add back into the sauce. Remove the pieces of pork and let them cool slightly; finely shred the meat, then stir back into the sauce. The sauce can now be finished and served or it can be cooled down, refrigerated and reheated the next day.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add the pasta. Cook according to the package instructions, reserving about 1 cup of the cooking water.
• Stir the parsley into the sauce and adjust the seasoning to taste with salt. Thin out with a little of the reserved pasta water and stir in the torn basil. Divide the cooked pasta among bowls and top each with some ragout. Drizzle each bowl with a little olive oil, top with a generous amount of Parmesan and garnish with a few basil leaves.

PORK RAGU

Steps:

• Heat a Dutch oven or other heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the extra-virgin olive oil, 3 turns of the pan, then add the carrots, celery, onions and garlic. Stir in the bay leaf and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cook the vegetables until soft, about 5 to 6 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir for 1 minute, then add the wine and cook for another minute. Stir in the stock and bring sauce to a simmer. Add the pork and season with a pinch of ground cloves. When the sauce returns to a simmer add the milk and reduce the heat to low. Let the sauce mellow while you bring the water to boil for the pasta or polenta. Sauce may be made ahead and reheated over medium-low heat. Add a splash of stock or water to thin the sauce, if necessary. Serve the sauce tossed with pasta ribbons or atop creamy bowls of polenta and garnish with lots of cheese and parsley.

COUNTRY STYLE PORK RIB RAGU

Steps:

• Salt and pepper both sides of the country style pork ribs.
• Heat a large braising pan over high heat until it's hot and then add in the clarified butter.
• Sear both sides of the meat and remove from pan. Do this in multiple steps if the meat gets too crowded.
• Do not clean out the pot. The baked-on stuff on the bottom of the pot is called a "fond. The fond that is leftover in the pot will add to the flavoring of the sauce. Add carrots, celery and onions. Cook for 5 minutes stirring occasionally.
• Time to deglaze the pan (deglazing means to loosen up the fond and dissolve it into the sauce). Add the red wine. Using a wooded spatula scrape the fond and allow that to meld in with the wine. Bring the wine to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes.
• Add in the garlic, rosemary sprigs, tomatoes, beef broth, bay leaves and stir.
• This will give you a lot of liquid in your sauce. Time to reduce. Cook at high heat until the sauce has reduced by about one third. NOTE: You may want to reduce after you cook the meat. I prefer to keep the meat out of the liquid a little bit so I reduce by one third before putting the meat back in to braise.
• Add meat that was set aside earlier back into the dish.
• Allow the dish to come back to a boil and cover the pot and lower the flame and simmer for 3 hours. Test the meat and if it tears apart easily, then you your dish is ready to remove from the heat.
• NOTE: While braising, use a spoon and scoop out the fat that starts to gather on the top of the liquid. Leaving it in the dish will cause a bad mouth-feel and also not sit well while digesting.
• Remove the meat from the pan and remove the bones and any hard cartilage parts (careful! The meat is hot!). Shred the meat with two forks and add back into the dish.
• Salt and pepper your dish to taste.
• Sometimes the tomatoes aren't sweet enough by themselves and if you notice too much acidity, add in a little honey (or sugar of choice) and taste, add more if needed.
• At this point, what I like to do is to leave it uncovered and leave over medium heat while the sauce continues to bubble and reduce even more. Then I boil my water and make my egg noodles.
• Once egg noodles are done cooking, drain.
• Serve by plating a wide bowl with noodles, spoon the ragu over the noodles, top with shredded pecorino romano cheese and then lastly sprinkle the chopped parsley over the cheese.

SAUSAGE RAGU (COOK'S COUNTRY)

Steps:

• NOTE: For a spicier sauce, substitute hot Italian sausage for sweet. (I use 1 lb of of each). If using sausage in the casing, remove meat and discard casings prior to processing in step 3. ***You will have 3 cups of EXTRA sauce, which can be used to sauce 1 pound of pasta, later . OR you can cook two pounds of pasta with this entire recipe of sause for a crowd***.
• INSTRUCTIONS.
• 1. Pulse fennel, onion, and fennel seeds in food processor until finely chopped, about 10 pulses, scraping down sides of bowl as needed; transfer to separate bowl.
• 2. Process tomatoes in now-empty processor until smooth, about 10 seconds; transfer to second bowl.
• 3. Pulse sausage in now-empty processor until finely chopped, about 10 pulses, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.
• 4. Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add sausage and cook, breaking up meat with spoon, until all liquid has evaporated and meat begins to sizzle, 10 to 15 minutes.
• 5. Add fennel mixture and 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. (Fond on bottom of pot will be deeply browned.) Add tomato paste, garlic, and oregano and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
• 6. Stir in wine, scraping up any browned bits, and cook until nearly evaporated, about 1 minute. Add 1 cup water and pureed tomatoes and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to low and simmer gently, uncovered, until thickened, about 45 minutes. (Wooden spoon should leave trail when dragged through sauce.) Season with salt and pepper to taste; cover and keep warm.
• 7. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large pot (FOR ONE LB PASTA). Add pasta and 1 tablespoon salt and cook, stirring often, until al dente. Reserve 1 cup cooking water, then drain pasta and return it to pot. Add 3 cups sauce and 1⁄2 cup reserved cooking water to ONE LB of pasta and toss to combine. Adjust consistency with remaining reserved cooking water as needed. Transfer to serving dish. Drizzle with extra oil, sprinkle with Parmesan, and serve. (Remaining 3 cups sauce can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months).