Rigatoni al Ragu
Enough sauce for about 5 pounds of pasta
I first made a variation of this pasta sauce when I was testing recipes for Michael Pollan’s book Cooked. Michael learned the art of simmering from Samin Nosrat through her favorite ragu. It was better than any I’d ever made. When I first started cooking, I followed Lidia Bastianich’s Bolognese recipe, which contained beef, tomatoes, and veggies. I soon learned that the traditional ragu of Bologna is a sauce of long-simmered ground meats, broth, and milk, with little to no tomato. I’ve been tweaking Samin’s recipe over the years. I do include some canned tomatoes to give it acidity. Sometimes I drain the tomatoes, but since I hate waste, I usually just add all their juices. So yes, untraditional but still delicious! You can serve it with pappardelle, but my kids and I prefer it with rigatoni — each tube of pasta holds a hidden cluster of meat inside. This dish makes about 16 cups of sauce. You only need 3 cups for 1 pound of rigatoni, so unless you are feeding 25, you should freeze it in containers and pull it out as needed for meal after wonderful meal.
For the spice sachet:
3 parsley stems
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
1 bay leaf
1 (3-inch) piece Parmesan rind
1 (3-inch) orange rind
1 cinnamon stick
For the ragu:
About 1 cup pure olive oil (not extra-virgin)
3 pounds ground meat (pork, beef, turkey, veal, or meat substitutes)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 medium red onions, peeled
2 large celery stalks
2 large carrots, peeled
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 cups dry red wine
1 (28-ounce) can whole San Marzano tomatoes
4 cups chicken stock
3 cups whole milk
Rigatoni
Handful of Parmesan, for serving
Few tablespoons of unsalted butter
1. Prepare the sachet: combine all ingredients in a sachet bag and tie together with cooking twine; set aside.
2. Make the ragu: Set a large rondeau or sauté pan over medium-high heat and add just enough oil to coat the pan. Add 1 pound of ground meat to the skillet and cook, breaking it into small pieces with a fork, over high heat until it just starts to brown. Season generously with salt and pepper. Transfer it to a large bowl. Add a tablespoon or two of olive oil to the same pan, and repeat cooking the meat in this way, one pound at a time, until finished. Set cooked meats aside.
3. Meanwhile, finely chop the onions, celery, and carrots. (They should be small enough to dissolve into the sauce.) Add enough olive oil to generously coat the pan, about ½ cup. Add the onions, celery, and carrots, and set over high heat. Once sizzling, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring often, until softened and lightly browned, about 25 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Push the vegetables to one side of the skillet, add the tomato paste to the empty side, and toast over medium heat, stirring constantly, for about 2 minutes. Return the meats to the pan and stir them into the vegetables. Let simmer for a few minutes to meld. Deglaze the pan with the red wine and simmer until nearly evaporated. Meanwhile, pour the tomatoes into a large bowl, remove any basil leaves, and crush them up with your hands. Stir the tomatoes and the spice sachet into the pan, and let simmer, for about 5 minutes. Add enough stock to just cover and simmer to slightly reduced (about 20 minutes), then add enough milk to just cover, and let simmer to reduce (another 20 minutes). Keep adding stock and milk in this way, until you’ve added it all. The ragu should simmer for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours total. Season to taste with lots of salt and some pepper until it tastes amazing! Remove and discard the sachet. Set aside 3 cups of ragu for feeding 4 to 5 people. Cool excess ragu and freeze it in 3 to 4 cup containers.
5. When ready to serve, heat 3 cups of ragu and stir in 2 tablespoons of butter. Season to taste with more salt, then add about 1 pound of cooked al dente pasta and stir to combine. Loosen with pasta cooking water as needed. Serve immediately on hot pasta plates with Parmesan cheese. Recipe adapted from Samin Nosrat in “Cooked” by Michael Pollan.
