Pork shoulder slowly simmered in crushed tomatoes, red wine, rosemary, garlic and basil; then placed on top perfectly cooked al dente pasta.
I generally like to make recipes that are quick and easy and though this Pork Ragù over Pasta recipe is easy, it does take a long time to cook. That's why this is the perfect recipe to make this time of year when the weather starts to get cooler and your Sunday's are spent relaxing at home.
I love a hearty meat sauce to go over my pasta and this one made with pork shoulder that is slowly simmered for several hours in crushed tomatoes, red wine, rosemary, garlic and basil is delicious.
What is ragu?
Ragù is a type of sauce that originated in northern Italy and is made of meat and vegetables cooked in a liquid. You can use one kind or a variety of meats including beef, chicken, pork, duck, goose, lamb, veal or game.
When I was in Venice, Italy a few years ago we happened upon this quaint restaurant with outdoor dining called Osteria Oliva Nera in the Ponte dei Greci Castello neighborhood, not far from Piazza San Marco.
The owner, Isabella couldn't do enough for us as we dined al fresco on bread with their homemade olive oil, stuffed zucchini blossoms, duck ragù, seafood specials and of course, fabulous Italian wine.
The duck ragù was my pick and it was outstanding. I loved the simplicity of the dish and vowed to make it at home one of these days.
Well, it's been about three years since we were in Venice and I still hadn't made duck ragù, so I decided to make pork ragù instead since pork shoulder was on sale recently.
This is one of those meals where you need to stay put for a few hours as once you assemble the sauce, it does have to cook
for about 3-4 hours.
How do you make pork ragú?
Heat oil in a Dutch oven or large pot and brown the meat on all sides; approximately 10-12 minutes. Remove the pork from the pot and set aside.
Add onion and garlic to the pot and saute for 1-2 minutes until the onion starts to soften; then add tomato paste, red wine, crushed tomatoes, rosemary, basil and water.
Add the pork back to the pot, reduce heat, partially cover the pot with a lid and simmer 3-4 hours. When you can break apart the pork by crisscrossing two forks to pull the meat off of the bone, it's done. Pull as much meat off of the bone as you can and discard the bone.
The aroma coming from the kitchen was fabulous and we couldn't wait to dig in. This recipe for Pork Ragù over Pasta did not disappoint. Just look at that thick sauce clinging to the pasta.
I used Mostaccioli, but any other tubular pasta would work well. This ragù made about 10 cups of sauce so I froze some in smaller containers for later and used it to make a meat lasagna; which was even better. ~Enjoy!
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Pork Ragu over Pasta
Ingredients
- 5 lbs. Pork Shoulder
- 1 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- ½ c. Diced Onion
- 3 cloves Garlic, minced
- 12 oz. Tomato Paste
- 1 c. Dry Red Wine
- 28 ounces Crushed Tomatoes
- 2 tbsp. Chopped Fresh Rosemary
- 2 tbsp. Chopped Fresh Basil
- 4 c. Water
Instructions
- Heat oil in a Dutch oven or large pot and brown the meat on all sides; approximately 10-12 minutes. Remove from pot and set aside.
- Add the onion and garlic to the pot and saute for 1-2 minutes until the onion starts to soften; then addd the tomato paste, red wine, crushed tomatoes, rosemary, basil and water.
- Add the pork back to the pot, reduce heat, partially cover the pot and simmer 3-4 hours. (When you can break apart the pork by crisscrossing two forks the meat is done). Pull as much meat off of the bone as you can and discard the bone.
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Vicky says
This looks very good. I was wondering if this could go into the oven or crock pot?
Carrie's Experimental Kitchen says
I don't see why not Vicky. I would still brown the meat prior to placing it in the slow cooker though. Let me know how it comes out if you try it!