Ragù

I am a big fan of concentrated flavours, it is almost as if food rewards you by unlocking its deepest, most intense essence after hours of fussing patiently over a pot, liquid slowly evaporating and leaving layer upon layer of flavour in the unctuous mass that remains. It is for this reason that when, as with tonight, I am left with the option of keeping a late night (NO SCHOOL TOMORROW!), I like to put together food for the next day that requires long cooking times because, often, the simplest of preparations, with long, patient cooking, yields spectacular results. 

Perhaps one of the most satisfying and versatile dishes you can prepare is Ragù, or at least some familiar variation of the traditional Italian meat-stew that is easy and comforting- not necessarily authentic, but still delicious. Ragù is the tomato-based meat sauce that, spooned over pasta, makes a hearty meal for any time of the day- it is a breeze to make and can be frozen for several meals after. 

Often, making this can be such a hassle, because sauces like this often start off with the traditional combination of finely chopped onion, carrots and celery, and involves sourcing for obscure meats like pancetta or prosciutto, and then a ridiculously long cooking-time. I have developed, out of sheer laziness more than anything, really, a recipe that keeps only the long cooking-time while simplifying mostly everything else; being terrible at chopping vegetables, I have dispensed, somewhat flagrantly, the carrots and celery, important though I think they are, making up for the loss of base-note flavour by slightly caramelising the onions and tomatoes and also by adding a good amount of balsamic vinegar and a tad more fennel seed than I would normally be comfortable with. I find the combination of beef and pork a beautiful marriage and use half beef half sausage here- raw sausage is actually quite readily available now in good supermarkets, though you can make your own by grinding some lean pork and maybe seasoning with sage, allspice, ground chili powder or paprika; but, my sense is that if you're going to bother with grinding your own meat, you might as well go the whole hog and chop the damned vegetables up as well.

Here is my personal recipe, fairly no-frills, cooking-time excepted. 

Ingredients

450g fresh minced beef (ideally, you can get chuck steak and grind it yourself)

450g raw sausage (or you can grind the equivalent of lean pork, perhaps seasoning with paprika and sage)

1 large onion, diced

1 fat clove of garlic, diced

2 cans diced tomatoes

2 cans tomato paste

2 cans tomato sauce

a good handful of fresh basil leaves

2 sprigs of Italian parsley

2 sprigs of Sage

1 1/2 teaspoon of fennel seed or star anise

1/2 cup water

4 tbs balsamic vinegar

1 cup red wine

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

1. In a large, thick-bottomed pan, heat up 1 tablespoon of olive oil and, when warm, throw in the onions and stir fry until it colours lightly. Add the garlic and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until fragrant. Add the meat and stir constantly, cooking until the meat is coloured and reduced from large chunks to mince. Add the balsamic vinegar and stir in, cook for 2 minutes. 

2. Throw in the water, tomato stuff and the herbs and fennel, stir well and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Leave like this on low for about 2 hours, stirring occasionally, making sure to scrape the sides down. The idea here is that the liquid will evaporate in 2 hours, and some of the tomato will begin to caramelise slightly. The 2 hour thing is why I do this after dinner the night before; if you're doing this for dinner give yourself some time ahead, obviously.

3. After 2 hours, raise to medium-high heat add the wine in small glugs, leaving each addition to evaporate before the next. Leave like this for another 45 minutes to 1 hour. 

4. The sauce should now resemble something not too unlike sambal- it will have very little liquid, look dry and uninspiring. Bring it back to life and into a whole new, unctuous, smooth incarnation by, off the heat, vigorously stirring in, first, the butter and then, when completely incorporated, the cream, mixing very well to make sure it's all in. Imperatively, taste, and season well- salt is your best friend, as is black pepper, don't stinge on either. This sauce will not be robust without good helpings of salt. 

5. You're done! If you've gone through this much effort to make the sauce, do it a favour and use good parmesan cheese. 

Voila

I love this sauce- the idea behind it is that the long reduction takes ALL the liquid in the rather copious amount of tomato product used while retaining the sweet-tart flavour of tomatoes and slightly caramelising it at the same time. When, near the end, you have the claggy mass of meat and tomato concentrate which has had a long time to sweeten and deepen, the butter and cream , apart from binding it all together, give it fantastic mouthfeel- smooth and moist. And you can do all this without actually being in the kitchen for more than an hour in total! The flavours actually deepen in the fridge overnight; leave uncovered in fridge until cool then cover and chill.