Best Cooks Country Pork Ragu Recipes

COUNTRY STYLE PORK RIB RAGU

Steps:

• Salt and pepper both sides of the country style pork ribs.
• Heat a large braising pan over high heat until it's hot and then add in the clarified butter.
• Sear both sides of the meat and remove from pan. Do this in multiple steps if the meat gets too crowded.
• Do not clean out the pot. The baked-on stuff on the bottom of the pot is called a "fond. The fond that is leftover in the pot will add to the flavoring of the sauce. Add carrots, celery and onions. Cook for 5 minutes stirring occasionally.
• Time to deglaze the pan (deglazing means to loosen up the fond and dissolve it into the sauce). Add the red wine. Using a wooded spatula scrape the fond and allow that to meld in with the wine. Bring the wine to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes.
• Add in the garlic, rosemary sprigs, tomatoes, beef broth, bay leaves and stir.
• This will give you a lot of liquid in your sauce. Time to reduce. Cook at high heat until the sauce has reduced by about one third. NOTE: You may want to reduce after you cook the meat. I prefer to keep the meat out of the liquid a little bit so I reduce by one third before putting the meat back in to braise.
• Add meat that was set aside earlier back into the dish.
• Allow the dish to come back to a boil and cover the pot and lower the flame and simmer for 3 hours. Test the meat and if it tears apart easily, then you your dish is ready to remove from the heat.
• NOTE: While braising, use a spoon and scoop out the fat that starts to gather on the top of the liquid. Leaving it in the dish will cause a bad mouth-feel and also not sit well while digesting.
• Remove the meat from the pan and remove the bones and any hard cartilage parts (careful! The meat is hot!). Shred the meat with two forks and add back into the dish.
• Salt and pepper your dish to taste.
• Sometimes the tomatoes aren't sweet enough by themselves and if you notice too much acidity, add in a little honey (or sugar of choice) and taste, add more if needed.
• At this point, what I like to do is to leave it uncovered and leave over medium heat while the sauce continues to bubble and reduce even more. Then I boil my water and make my egg noodles.
• Once egg noodles are done cooking, drain.
• Serve by plating a wide bowl with noodles, spoon the ragu over the noodles, top with shredded pecorino romano cheese and then lastly sprinkle the chopped parsley over the cheese.

PRESSURE COOKER PORK PUTTANESCA RAGù

Steps:

• Using a sharp knife, trim and discard the large pieces of fat from the pork shoulder, then cut the meat into 4 or 5 large chunks. Place the pork in a bowl and season it generously with salt and pepper.
• Using the sauté setting, heat the olive oil in a 6- to 8-quart pressure cooker. Add the garlic and anchovies and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly and scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan, until fragrant and slightly darkened in color, about 2 minutes. (If it looks like it's getting too dark, or you get a warning on the display, turn off the heat while cooking the tomato paste. Turn the heat back on when you add the wine.)
• Stir in the olives, capers, vinegar, red-pepper flakes, oregano and a generous amount of black pepper. (Do not add more salt at this point; anchovies, olives and capers can be quite salty.) Stir in the wine, 2 cups water and the tomatoes with their juices, crushing the tomatoes with your hands if using whole. Turn off the sauté setting and stir in the pork. Close the lid and cook on high pressure for 80 minutes.
• Let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes, then release the remaining pressure manually. Open the lid. Carefully transfer the pork to a medium bowl, and coarsely shred. Using the sauté setting, let the ragù simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened. Skim the excess fat, if desired. Add the shredded meat back to the pot, then add the lemon juice and parsley and gently stir to combine. Taste and add more red-pepper flakes or salt if necessary. Serve the ragù over polenta or sturdy pasta, like rigatoni or pappardelle. Top with Parmesan, to taste.

SLOW COOKER PORK PUTTANESCA RAGù

Steps:

• Using a sharp knife, trim and discard the large hunks of fat from the pork shoulder then cut the meat into 4 even pieces. Season the pork generously on all sides with salt. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Working in two batches if necessary, brown the pork on two sides, about 5 minutes per side. Using tongs, transfer the pork to a 5- to 8-quart slow cooker.
• Add the garlic and anchovies to the skillet, along with more oil if needed, and cook over medium, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly and scraping up any browned bits on the bottom of the pan, until fragrant and slightly darkened in color, about 3 minutes. Turn off the heat and stir in the olives, capers, vinegar, red-pepper flakes, oregano and a generous amount of black pepper. (Do not add more salt at this point because anchovies, olives and capers can be quite salty.) Scrape the mixture into the slow cooker with the pork and stir until combined.
• Cover the slow cooker and cook on low until the pork is fork-tender and the sauce deepens in color, about 10 hours.
• Using two forks, coarsely shred the pork. Pour the can of tomatoes and juices into the slow cooker, crushing the tomatoes with your hands, if using whole. Add the parsley and lemon juice. Taste and add more red-pepper flakes or salt if necessary.
• Serve the ragù over polenta or sturdy pasta, like rigatoni or pappardelle, topped with Parmesan to taste. (If serving the ragù with pasta, loosen the ragù with a bit of pasta cooking water, adding it spoonful by spoonful, to help the sauce coat the pasta.)

PORK RAGù AL MAIALINO

Steps:

• Using a sharp knife, remove the thick skin from the pork, leaving a sheen of fat on top of the meat. Season aggressively with salt and place in the refrigerator until ready to use, as long as overnight.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place a deep saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons olive oil. When it shimmers, gently cook the onion, celery and fennel until they begin to soften, about 10 minutes. Add the stock and thyme and bring to a simmer, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Rinse pork to remove excess salt, dry with a paper towel and add to seasoned broth. Cover and place in the oven for 90 minutes or more, until the meat just begins to pull away from the bone.
• Allow both meat and broth to cool on the stove top for 30 minutes, or until you can touch the meat with your hands. Remove the pork and gently pull the meat from the bone, then tear the chunks into bite-size shreds. Place these in a large bowl.
• Strain the liquid into a separate bowl and then pour enough of it over the meat to barely cover. (Use the rest for soup.) Cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
• Put a large pot of salted water over high heat and bring to a boil.
• Place a large pan over medium-high heat and add the pork and braising liquid. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to medium and cook until the liquid is reduced by half. Add the butter and stir to emulsify.
• Meanwhile, cook the pasta in salted water according to the directions on the package, 10 to 12 minutes. When it is finished, drain and add to the sauce along with a splash of pasta water. Simmer for 1 minute, then add the lemon juice, half of the cheese, a tablespoon of olive oil and the parsley. Stir to incorporate.
• Serve immediately, topped with arugula and the remaining cheese.