tagliatelle in ragù bianco
tagliatelle in a white pork ragù
I can remember when I was very uncertain about ‘white’ ragùs. In the late 90s and early 2000s, however, I started to explore them at random trattorie on holidays in Tuscany and I quickly became a fan. This was back when tomatoless ragùs were still relatively unusual dishes to feature on Italian restaurant menus; they were practically unheard of in the UK.
In Tuscany it's common to find more exotic meat in white ragùs - certainly more so than you might be able to find at your local supermarket (wild boar, venison, hare)... however good quality minced pork and attention to flavours will still be able to deliver fantastic results.
I’m always amazed at how the other ingredients in a meat sauce can combine and shine when you remove the tomato from the recipe - if you're sceptical, just try it, you won't be disappointed.
WHAT YOU'LL NEED TO DO
(scroll down for the full method)
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prepare and chop the vegetables
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begin to fry the soffrito
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slowly fry the pancetta
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begin to cook the pork
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add pork, pancetta to soffritto
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boil and cook the pasta
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combine sauce and pasta, plate
tagliatelle in a white pork ragù
INGREDIENTS
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500g pork mince
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100g smoked pancetta
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2 celery sticks
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2 small carrots
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4 small onions
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1/4 chicken stock cube
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1 large garlic clove
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white wine
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2 tblspns butter
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basil leaves
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bay leaves
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nutmeg
PASTA
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400g fresh tagliatelle
MANTECATURA
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minimal
METHOD
Start with a finely chopped soffritto of onion, carrots, celery in EVO; after a minute or so add garlic and sweat with a little water until the onions are translucent and the carrots have almost lost their crunch.
Slowly fry the pancetta so that it loses a good deal of its fat, which you can drain away.
In a separate pan, fry the minced meat until it’s cooked through with some EVO and a few bay leaves (I much prefer 5% fat pork to beef mince, but minced lamb, veal, or sausage meat can all work too). Add the pancetta and a splash of white wine and cook off the alcohol and most of the moisture, then add the pork to the soffritto.
Add more wine, a glass or two of water and a chicken stock cube (or two, to taste). Simmer on a low heat, stirring frequently, for 90 - 180 minutes. You’ll need to make sure it doesn’t dry out, and add a little water and wine every so often. You want to aim for a sharpish wine taste but then start adding little knobs of butter until you get a nice sharp-creamy contrast. During this time also grate a whole nutmeg into the mix, add a big handful of basil leaves, and plenty of salt and black pepper to taste.
In Tuscany it’s very common to find both red and ‘white’ ragùs flavoured with a very noticeable taste of nutmeg, so my ragù bianco is big on the winey, nutmeggy, meaty flavours.
When you’re approaching a taste for the sauce that you’re happy with, boil fresh egg pasta (a lighter, fresh pasta works best with this sauce than a dry pasta) in a separate saucepan.
Most of the supermarket fresh pastas like this cook in about 4 mins so after a minute or two drain the pasta and transfer to the pan with the ragù, add a small amount of cooking water and mix/toss everything together as the pasta finishes cooking and combines with the meat and sauce juices. Keep checking and tasting and DON’T overcook the pasta! Serve immediately and quickly with more black pepper and pecorino / parmesan.
NUTRITION PER SERVING
KCAL: 462
Fat (g): 15.8
Sat Fat (g): 6.0
Carb (g): 30.6
Sug (g): 6.0
Fib(g): 3.9
Prot (g): 37.7
Salt (g): 1.43
