Blog > Recipes

Pappardelle with pork and mushroom ragu

Pappardelle with pork and mushroom ragu

A perfect pairing of pappardelle with a rich pork and mushroom ragu. The sauce is flavourful, and the mushrooms and red wine give it an amazing depth. In my opinion, this is the ultimate comfort food. The pork scotch fillet is slow cooked, resulting in meat that falls apart and a rich tomato sauce. Served with baby spinach leaves and shaved parmesan.

Wee bonus - The sauce freezes perfectly well, so for no extra effort you can have an easy meal on hand in the freezer.

You could use beef instead of pork if you prefer, using a cut such as chuck steak 

Ingredients

1 kg pork scotch fillet – cubed, not too small, e.g. 5 cm pieces

4 tbs olive oil

1 large onion chopped

2 sticks of celery chopped

2 carrots chopped

2 cloves garlic chopped

250 gms streaky bacon, finely sliced

2 tbs tomato paste

1 tin tomato puree

2 sprigs rosemary finely chopped

500 mls chicken stock

250 mls red wine

1-2 packets of mushrooms – you decide, how much do you like mushrooms!? Halved if smaller mushrooms

Half of 500 gm packet of pappardelle

Half packet of baby spinach

Half cup of grated parmesan and more if you want

 

Cooking instructions

  1. Heat 2 tbs oil in a large saucepan over medium heat
  2. Season the pork with half a 2 teaspoons of salt and cracked pepper and brown on all sides – should take 3-5 mins and you will likely need to do in two batches.
  3. Remove from pan and heat the remaining oil and add the onion, celery, carrots and bacon and cook for 5 mins or until soft
  4. Add the garlic and rosemary and cook for another minute or so
  5. Add the tomato paste, stirring in and cook for another couple of minutes
  6. Return the pork to the saucepan and add the red wine, bring to the boil and then reduce
  7. Add the tomato puree, salt, pepper and stock, cover and bring to a simmer and cook on a low heat for approx. 60 minutes until the pork is fork-tender
  8. Cook the pasta according to the package directions, drain and place in large serving dish- this will be towards the end of the 60 minutes
  9. Towards the end of the ragu cooking, quickly brown the mushrooms in some butter – this should only take a couple of minutes
  10. Add mushrooms to the ragu, gently mixing with the pork and other ingredients
  11. Mix the ragu in with the pappardelle
  12. Add the baby spinach leaves and top with the parmesan

 

Serves 4-6