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The Story
Slow cooked meat. Oh yeah. A surefire way to a satisfying meal is simple ingredients, cooked for a long time. And meat. I remember a couple of decades back, the last giant family party that I think we had. The kind that has so many ‘uncles’ and ‘cousins’ that you’re reminded of the fact that they’re actually placeholder titles used to avoid convoluted explanations of exactly who’s brother’s great-uncle-in-law you’re talking to, and that actually you can’t remember. The type where even the less familiar hair gel and gold chain side of the family turns up. And the type with a whole lamb roasting on a giant spit, manned by an assortment of portly bristled men holding beers and shouting at each other over the smoke in beautifully broken English and Calabrian. Family events have been whittled down now by time and distance, and it’s been many years since I had room for a spit in the backyard, so our slow cooked meals these days all happen at a scale that can fit into our La Creuset pot. Though it is the biggest that we could find.
The Sauce
Last week we bought a big old good looking piece of pork shoulder, carved some of it up for steaks, put some through the grinder to go into our polpette, and kept some aside for this ragu. We’ll never be too prescriptive in the cut of meat that we recommend, as we tend to just use what looks best and would reasonably work, but this time it was shoulder. If you want a more pulled experience, then collar butt is your cut – that’s our go to on Mexican night! Just keep in mind how dry your chosen cut will be after slow cooking and, if in doubt, ask your butcher.
If you are using an enamelled cast iron pot, then you may want to brown your meat in a separate pan and then deglaze it to ensure you don’t miss out on any left-behind flavour. It’s not ideal to superheat these pots and you also run the risk of leaving behind residue that eventually catches. But it’s your call – I don’t treat it as a hard and fast rule, and it’s kind of pleasing to cook the whole thing in one pot.
Here is a rule though: I personally taste all of my ingredients at all stages of preparation, and you should too!
If you taste everything that goes into your dish before, during, and after preparation, then you’ll be able to understand the relationship between the ingredients and the cooking processes. Then let chaos reign as you brazenly abandon recipes and embrace empowered improvisation.
One of the feature ingredients of this recipe is the wild boar bocconcini. It has a magnificent deep, earthy taste, but is still subtle in intensity. You can easily substitute it for another type of salami, but if you do happen across it, give it a shot. We may have eaten a lot off ‘offcuts’ as we sliced this up. With taleggio. And crackers. Ok fine, also a bunch of other salumi that I ‘happened to collect’ the last time I went out.
Once you’ve combined your soffritto with your meat (see this post from last week if you want to read about my awkward obsession for the soffritto), throw in the rest of the ingredients. Make sure that you swill that water around in any tomato tins and bottles you’re using to grab every last bit, and as a wise chef once said, only cook with wine that you’d enjoy drinking. You’ll even have four hours to enjoy the rest of it while you wait for your ragu to cook.
Then cover it up and get that pot in the oven! As long as you’re monitoring the moisture levels, with the occasional stir, the longer you cook this bad boy the better. If it’s getting too dry, just add water. Don’t be afraid to also adjust the temperature, or even remove the lid if it’s looking too wet. By the time the sauce is cooked, the meat should be breaking up with every stir. Perfect for stuffing into our hand-rolled paccheri! Load it up with a punchy hard cheese and pepper, and have yourself a fine meal.
Thank you for following along on our pasta adventure, and buon appetito!
– Al & Al.
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup olive oil extra virgin
- 1.2 kg pork shoulder trimmed of fat and cut into a few large chunks
- 3-4 wild boar bocconcini sausages diced or sliced (alternatively, use 250-330g of other salami)
- 1 bulb fennel sliced
- 1 carrot finely diced
- 1 onion finely diced
- half head of garlic minced
- 1 big tbsp fresh thyme
- 1 stem rosemary
- 1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
- 1 400g can of crushed tomatoes
- 1 800 ml bottle of passata
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 cup of red wine
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp fennel seeds dry roasted and coarsely ground
- 1 tbsp pepper coarsely ground
- pinch of ground cayenne pepper
- salt and pepper to season
- 800 ml water plus any extra required to increase moisture if ragu is getting too dry
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160 degrees Celsius.
- Season the pork and brown in a hot, lightly oiled pan, or directly in the pot that you'll be using to cook the ragu. Remove, and if in a separate pan deglaze, retaining the juices.
- Add the olive oil, fennel, sausage, carrot, onion, garlic, thyme, rosemary, and chilli flakes into the pot and gently fry until the onion is translucent. At a low heat, expect this to take 20-30 minutes. Stir continuously.
- Add the browned pork back in and stir through the soffritto, before pouring in the crushed tomatoes and passata, adding the sugar and a pinch of salt. Swill the water around in the empty can and passata bottle to collect any leftovers, and add to the pot. Then mix in the wine, bay leaves, fennel seeds, black pepper, and cayenne. Season to taste, and give it a good stir.
- Bring to the boil, cover the pot, and transfer to the oven. Cook it in the oven for 4-6 hours, stirring occasionally and checking the moisture levels regularly. Add water if necessary, as you don't want it to get too dry.
- Remove from the oven and stir gently to break up the chunks of meat until at a satisfactory consistency. We recommend serving this with a hearty pasta like our paccheri!
Hi, is the temperature for this for a fan or a conventional oven? what temperature would you recommend for a slower cook of 6 plus hours?