White Pork Ragu

 

from “Smitten Kitchen Keepers: new classics for your forever files” by Deb Perelman

serves 4-6

2 Tablespoons oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
1 small bulb fennel, chopped 
4 garlic cloves, minced
Kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, and red pepper flakes
1 pound ground pork

1 Parmesan rind 

1/4 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
1 bay leaf
Pasta water, as needed
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 pound dry fettuccine, or 1 pound fresh
Lots of cracked black pepper & grated Parmesan, to serve

Build the sauce:

Heat a medium-to-large heavy pot or Dutch oven (4-5 quarts) over medium-high heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil, and once it is warm, add the onion, carrot, and fennel and season well with salt and black pepper and/or pepper flakes, to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, until the vegetables are lightly browned all over. Don’t worry if anything sticks. Add the pork and garlic, season it generously with salt and pepper, and cook, breaking it up with your spoon, it until it has browned, about 8-10 minutes. Add the wine and scrape up any stuck bits; cook until the wine disappears (1-2 minutes). Add the broth, milk, and bay leaf, and bring to a simmer; then reduce the heat to the lowest simmer, leaving the lid off. Congratulations, you’ve now reached the “walk away” portion of the recipe.

Cook the ragu:

Here’s how the next 1 to 1.5 hours will go:Check in on the sauce from time to time, adding more water if needed to keep it loose, but not enough to submerge the meat (which would boil, not braise–shudder). Taste it from time to time, and add more seasoning if needed. The sauce is done with the meat tastes tender, butter, and rich; this takes 60 to 90 minutes. There’s little harm in going a little longer (up to 2 hours) if real life is more interesting. Do a final taste for seasoning, and cook any remaining liquid down to a saucy puddle. Remove from heat; discard the bay leaf and either discard or chop up Parmesan rind & add back to sauce.  Add the cream, and stir to combine.

To finish:

Cook your pasta 1-2 minutes shy of done in well-salted water. Before you drain it, ladle a cup of the pasta water int a glass by the stove. Drain the pasta, and add it directly to the ragu, along with a quarter to a half of the reserved water. Cook the pasta and sauce together until the pasta is as as done as you like it, adding more pasta water if needed to keep it moving. Serve in wide bowls, finished with Parmesan and pepper.