Nonna’s Ragu
with pork & Fennel
My Italian heritage is heavily reflected in the food I love to cook and eat. My Nonna Assunta, (Italian grandma) is who taught me to cook from a young age. I would spend my summers in the kitchen with her learning everything from bread making, to this legendary ragu.
It is what is typically referred to in the UK as a “Bolognese,” but being from just south of Rome, we cannot reliably name it after another city. The Lazio region is also known for using pork or a mix of pork and beef in their cooking. Also this absolute classic is NEVER served with spaghetti. Spaghetti is a smooth pasta and doesn’t hold on to this robust sauce. We have used a “mafalda corta” but anything wide, with a bit of texture will work; rigatoni, penne, fettucini, pappardelle…
Recipe
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
- 500g Pork Mince
- 2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 tsp Garlic Granules
- 1/2 tsp Fennel Seeds
- 1 Carrot, finely grated
- 2 tbsp Tomato Puree
- 200ml Vegetable Stock
- 400ml Tomato Passata
- Salt to taste
- Pinch of Chilli Flakes
- Pasta and lashings of parmesan to serve!
Method:
- Fry the pork mince over a high heat in the olive oil until the meat begins to caramelise and brown.
- Add in the grated carrot, garlic granules and fennel seeds. Sweat on a medium heat until the carrot softens and becomes translucent.
- Stir in the tomato puree, followed by the veg stock and passata.
- Allow to bubble away on low until the sauce reduces and thickens. (around 30 mins)
- Add your al dente pasta to the sauce and allow to cook for a further minute so the pasta can absorb the sauce.
- Shower with lashings of parmesan cheese and serve.
Tips & Tricks
Tricks:
- Reduce the cooking time of your pasta by 2 minutes, allowing it to finish cooking in the sauce. This will allow the pasta to absorb the flavour
- If the sauce has reduced too much, use a bit of the pasta water to adjust the consistency.
Tips:
- Make it the day before, or batch cook and freeze it to allow the flavour to develop further.
- If you have some fresh basil, add this in towards the end to prevent it from making the tomatoes bitter.
- Use the best quality tomatoes you can, we like Mutti.