Lamb ragù
Lamb ragù
In Italy and many other countries around the world, it’s traditional to eat lamb - which symbolises life - at Easter time. Easter spans over two days in Italy: Pasqua (Easter Sunday) and Pasquetta (Easter Monday), which literally translates to “little Easter”. This comforting ragù made with lamb mince is the perfect dish to cook over a long weekend, because it needs at least 3 hours of simmering time. It’s even more perfect for a long weekend spent in lockdown!
Serve this ragù with any pasta you like. Fresh egg pasta, such as tagliatelle or pappardelle, are obvious and excellent choices, as are wheat pasta, like paccheri or rigatoni. For this post I’ve paired the ragù with home-made cavatelli. Cavatelli is a great partner for ragù because it’s indented shape holds the meat sauce really well. Serve with a generous amount of freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 small carrot
1 stick celery
1 small onion
2 cloves garlic
500g lamb mince
½ cup red wine
2 dried bay leaves
Few sprigs each fresh rosemary and thyme
1 can plum tomatoes
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese, to serve
Method
Finely chop the carrot, celery, onion and garlic, either in a food processor or by hand. Add about 1 tbsp of olive oil to a pot and sauté the vegetables on a medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until soft.
Add the lamb mince to the pot, along with a large pinch of salt and some freshly ground pepper. Cook until the mince has browned all over then add the wine and let it simmer until it has evaporated.
Add the bay leaves, fresh herbs, and tinned tomatoes and stir thoroughly. Turn the heat down to low and let the ragù gently simmer, uncovered, for 3-4 hours. By this stage you should have a thick, rich, meat sauce.
Toss the ragù through your pasta of choice. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
