Clodagh McKenna's beef and pork ragu

This week, our chef Clodagh McKenna prepares a rich sauce with oregano and sweet tomatoes
Clodagh McKenna17 October 2018

It was when I lived in Turin, in northern Italy, that I learnt how to make a proper ragu, what we might call bolognese.

Before that I had always made it just with minced beef, but in fact it should be made with 50 per cent minced pork and 50 per cent minced beef. It’s the fat in the pork that makes the ragu taste so delicious. It’s also important to slow-cook it for a couple of hours over a low heat, so the meat goes tender and the flavours have a chance to develop.

I love making this on a Saturday morning and allowing it to cook all day. I double up on the recipe and freeze portions for easy suppers during the week. I use tinned cherry tomatoes as I find them a lot sweeter then the chopped kind. I love the flavour of dried oregano in the ragu, again, something that I learnt in Italy. It lends a delicious sweet earthy flavour.

Talking about Italian treats, last weekend I discovered a fantastic wine bar in Notting Hill called Negozio Classica. It’s intimate and authentic, and sells incredible Tuscan Avignonesi wines by the glass and also a thoughtful selection of other Italian wines. My idea of heaven, and one of my new favourite spots.

Authentic beef and pork ragu

Serves 4

Prep time: 15 minutes.

Cook time: 1 hour, at least.

Serve with: Beaujolais Lantignié 2016 Louis Jadot, available at Majestic Wines for £11.99.

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 25g butter
  • 1 onion, finely diced
  • 1 carrot, finely diced
  • ½ celery stick, finely diced
  • 4 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 500g minced pork 
  • 500g minced beef 
  • 300ml red wine
  • 600g tin cherry tomatoes
  • 2 tbsp tomato purée
  • 2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
  • 600g fresh pappardelle
  • 100g Parmesan cheese, grated
  • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Place a casserole dish over a medium heat and add the oil and the butter.

2. Put in the onion, carrot, celery and garlic Stir and cook for five minutes or until softened. Add the minced beef and pork, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the beef has browned.

3. Pour in the wine and leave to simmer for about five minutes.

4. Stir in the tinned cherry tomatoes, tomato purée, dried oregano and nutmeg, season with salt and pepper and mix well. Reduce the heat and leave to simmer for at least an hour. The longer you allow it to simmer the more tender and flavoursome the ragu becomes. Add a little beef or vegetable stock if it becomes too thick, or even water

5. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Tip in the pappardelle and stir for two minutes. Cook until al dente and drain, reserving two tbsp of cooking water.

6. Return the pasta to the saucepan (off the heat) and stir in the cooking water followed by the ragu.

7. Serve with grated Parmesan.

Follow Clodagh on Instagram @clodagh_mckenna​

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in