#78 - Butcher's Ragu with Fusilli

Looking through Food & Wine magazine, we saw this recipe for a ragu by Mario Batali. Since we have his Dutch oven, and we like ragu, we thought we'd give it a shot.

Butcher's Ragu with Fusilli

From Mario Batali Now this isn't any ordinary ragu - it's Butcher's Ragu. That means it has like 10 types of meat. Well just three really, ham, pancetta, and ground beef. So you have your carrots, celery, garlic, and onions, and then you add the three meats to it in Mario Batali's Dutch oven, or whatever big pot you have at home. Once that's browned, you have the next slightly unusual part of the recipe. There's no tomato sauce, it's just made with tomato paste. So when you're done, the sauce is a lighter version that gets its liquid from the browned meat, some milk, white wine, and water. The verdict for this one? Not bad.

The things that made it unique were probably the parts we liked the least. There probably was a little too much meat, and the sauce wasn't as saucy as we'd like.

So was it tasty? Yes. Would we make it again? Probably not. Here's the recipe for you, if you feel like a meaty pasta.

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup plus 1 Tbs olive oil
• 1 medium carrot, cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 1 medium celery rib, cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced
• 4 oz pancetta, cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1/2 lb baked ham, cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup water
• Salt and black pepper
• 1 1/2 lb fusilli
• Parmigiano or Pecorino cheese, grated for serving

Preparation

1. In a large dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium heat.
2. Add the carrot, celery, onion, and garlic and cook until softened but not browned, about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
3. Add the pancetta and ground beef and cook until no longer pink, about 8 minutes.
4. Add the tomato paste and cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until shiny and rust-colored, about 10 minutes.
5. Add the ham, milk, white wine, and water to the pot and simmer the ragu over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until it is thick and saucy, about 1 hour and 15 minutes.
6. Season the ragu with salt and pepper.
7. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the fusilli until al dente.
8. Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce.
9. Stir well to coat the pasta.
10. Serve the pasta right away with grated Parmigiano or Pecorino cheese.