While in Italy, after my Italian class I usually picked up something for lunch at a shop that sells freshly made pasta, assorted meats, cheeses, and prepared daily sauces. In the case one day was something I had never heard of: a beautiful bowl of Prosciutto Ragu. I bought a small portion, some freshly made tagliatelle, a roll, and a half bottle of local red wine. When I sat down to my lunch and tasted the ragu, I figured out how it was made. Here is my recipe.
Ingredients
- ¾ pound prosciutto
- ½ pound pancetta
- 1 to 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 medium-sized onions or one large, finely diced (about 1½ cups)
- 2 medium-sized carrots, finely diced (about 1 cup)
- 2 celery stalks, finely diced (about 1 cup)
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- ¾ cup dry red wine
- 1 (28-ounce) can of whole San Marzano tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
- 4 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley and zest of 1 lemon, minced together.
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
- 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 sprig of fresh rosemary
- 1 cup homemade chicken stock
- Large pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
- Black pepper to taste
- ½ cup light cream
Preparation
Cut the prosciutto and the pancetta into large strips. Grind the meat to a medium consistency using an old fashioned hand grinder with a medium adapter.
NOTE: You may also mince the meat, but the grinder works well. Do not use the food processor; you will have mush!
Put the olive oil in a large (6- to 8-quart) heavy saucepan over medium heat. Cook meat until most of its fat has rendered and it has lost its pink color, about 10 to 12 minutes.
Remove the meat from the pan with a slotted spoon, draining off most of the fat, leaving 1 to 2 tablespoons of fat in the pan.
Add the diced onions, carrots, and celery. Sauté, frequently stirring, until the vegetables are translucent. Stir in the garlic and return the meat to the pan. Mix in the wine and cook for 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, and parsley with the lemon zest, thyme, basil, bay leaves, and rosemary sprig. Add chicken broth, mixing until well combined.
Bring to a boil and quickly reduce the heat to very low. Simmer partly covered, occasionally stirring for 1 to 1½ hours.
In a small saucepan, warm the cream to a little more than lukewarm and set it where it will stay warm without boiling. When the ragu mixture has cooked for a half hour, stir in half of the cream. Repeat the next half hour. Remove the bay leaves before serving.
It makes about 2 quarts.
John F. Carafoli is an international food stylist, consultant, and author. He wrote the seminal book Food Photography and Styling, Cape Cod Chef’s Table, Recipes from Buzzards Bay to Provincetown, and Great Italian American Food in New England: History, Traditions & Memories. He has been published in Gastronomica, The Journal of Food and Culture, The New York Times, L’italo-Americano Italian Newspaper, and Edible Cape Cod, where he won an EDDY for best use of recipes in a feature, and was profiled in the Italian publication ER (Emilia Romagna) and presented papers at the Oxford Symposium on Food and Cookery in England. carafoli.com.
