RECIPES

tagliatelle al ragu

Pasta with braised beef ragu

DOUGH RECIPE

Ingredients

300G or 1.25 cups durum flour

3 large eggs

1 tsp of salt

1 tsp of x.v. olive oil

You can do this either by hand or with a food processor.

With a food processor, put all the ingredients together in the bowl and mix well using the dough blade, until you have a smooth, homogenous dough.

By hand, first place the flour inside a bowl. Form a hole in the center where you put the rest of the ingredients. Start mixing the eggs with some of the flour and add more and more flour until all of it is mixed.

Cover the pasta dough with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for an hour.

My suggestion is to buy a pasta machine to work the dough. You can find a manual one between $30 and $80 at any home supply store.

Start by passing half of your dough at the wider set and double it two or three times. By doing this you will give elasticity to the pasta.

Even after having obtained a smooth and regular rectangle of pasta, keep passing it several times through the machine, every time reducing the gauge of the rolls. Usually the right thickness is on the number 2 of the pasta machine. If not, either way you don’t want to reach the last number because the pasta would be too thin.

Now you have your sheet of pasta. You can use it the way you want. Live it whole for lasagna or cut it in strips for pappardelle, tagliatelle or taglierini.

Be reminded that fresh egg pasta cooks very quickly. One minute in boiling salted water is all you need.

If you have left overs you can freeze it. You can form your favorite shape of pasta, freeze it and have it ready whenever you need it. Just take it out from the freezer and put it directly in the boiling water. It is that easy! Acquiring a truly unique ragù recipe can be challenging. Being one of the most traditional dishes of central Italy, I somehow always found this dish in front of me come Sunday evening. Each home has their own recipe, and in mine we used orange zest.\ My mother came up with this twist and I think it lends itself quite wonderfully to the flavors of the ragù.

RAGÙ RECIPE

Ingredients

2 lb ground beef

1/2 lb ground pork

3 red onions

zest of one orange

2 cups x.v. olive oil

2 glasses or 5 oz. red wine

2 tbs salt

2 lbs whole tomatoes, peeled

Preparation

Peel the onions and grind them finely in a food processor. Set aside.

If you have a food mill, pass the tomatoes through it. If not, you can use a food processor to grind them. What you want to obtain is a raw tomato sauce or puree. Set aside.

Zest your orange and cut into small pieces. Set aside.

Heat up a medium pot and add the x.v. olive oil. Add onions and let them cook until thoroughly soft.

Combine both the beef and the pork and stir them into the onions until the meat is cooked and all the water has steamed out.

When the meat starts sticking to the pot, add the salt and red wine. Let the alcohol evaporate completely.

Add the tomatoes and stir well.

Add orange pieces and stir.

Then, pour in enough water to cover the ingredients by the width of four fingers. Bring the water to boil and reduce on low heat for three hours. While reducing, cover the pan, leaving a little room for the air to escape (I use a wooden spoon as a wedge here).

Once the dish has reduced, the consistency should be dense enough to spoon onto a piece of bread. This is also a good strategy to taste the salt if you’re using traditional Tuscan bread, which doesn’t have any salt. This ragù is wonderful with tagliatelle, but you can also use it on any other pasta that you have on hand.