What is more exciting to a cook than challenged with new material? Well, using new expensive materials, but this recipe is not it. Wild boar can be purchased in butcher shops specialized in game meat, or in my case, the frozen section in Big C, our standard supermarket. I discovered this meat a while back while browsing the fridges, it's a hobby of mine, don't judge.
Now, lets get to the point. Ragu is a type of stew or a meat based sauce often served with pasta. We often go to fancy restaurant and they will disguise the basic beef bolognese by the name of "Beef Ragu". While homemade bolognese uses ground meat as base, similar to that of the northern Italy style, this Ragu is a slow cooked chunks of tough meat that had been reduced to fibers in the delicious tomato sauce infused meat! Now if this doesn't get your saliva gland working, I don't know what!
I cut the vegetables into large chunks because, unlike some recipes, I do eat them and enjoy the melt in your mouth carrots, also my father request extra carrots in every stew recipes.
The preparation is simple, the only difficult thing about this recipe is patience and for some home cooks, sharp knives.
Ingredients
How to
Wash and pat dry the boar meat. To make the meat break down faster, I divided the meat into 2 inches strips, keeping the skin on. Using sharp knife, score the skin crisscross pattern, do be careful because it the skin is slippery. Season generously with salt and pepper. Cut the carrots, slice the onions and the celery. Chop the bacon into 1" slices. Drink a little bit of that red wine. If you can't drink it, don't use it!
In a dutch oven pot, or a heavy base stew pot, on a low heat, put in the bacon. Why the low heat? That's because it will render the fat out of the bacon without burning it. We are not using any oil in this recipe!
Remove the Bacon and turn the heat up to high, add the boar meat skin side down until nice and brown, flip the meat over and continue to brown the meat on all sides. Remove and set aside.
In the same pot, turn the heat to medium and add the garlic and onion, keep stirring the onion until they are almost translucent, then add the celery and carrots. Stir for about 1 to 2 minutes until all the vegetables received that heat and that is what will bring out the natural sweetness of the vegetables out into the stew.
Put the boar back into the pot along with all the juices, top off with the red wine, the tomatoes and water. Throw in the herbs, season with salt and pepper, and stir until all the herbs and tomatoes are mixed. Bring to Boil for about 2 to 5 minutes, then reduce to low. Close the lid.
Keep stirring every 30 minutes for about 2 to 2.5 hours depending on the cut of meat and how thick the meat is. The sauce will reduce to this beautiful coat-the-spoon-and-line-your-stomach-thick. If the sauce is too thick, just add 1/2 can of water or more if needed. Turn off the heat and let the sauce continue to cook inside the pot while you go ahead with your preparation of pasta.
Serve 5 with boiled potatoes, Pesto Mash Potatoes, rice, or bread.
Now, lets get to the point. Ragu is a type of stew or a meat based sauce often served with pasta. We often go to fancy restaurant and they will disguise the basic beef bolognese by the name of "Beef Ragu". While homemade bolognese uses ground meat as base, similar to that of the northern Italy style, this Ragu is a slow cooked chunks of tough meat that had been reduced to fibers in the delicious tomato sauce infused meat! Now if this doesn't get your saliva gland working, I don't know what!
I cut the vegetables into large chunks because, unlike some recipes, I do eat them and enjoy the melt in your mouth carrots, also my father request extra carrots in every stew recipes.
The preparation is simple, the only difficult thing about this recipe is patience and for some home cooks, sharp knives.
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 - 1 lbs wild boar meat, with the tough skin.
- 3 Bay leaves, Rosemary, Oregano, Basil and Sage.
- 3 cloves of garlic, sliced.
- 2 Large Carrot, divided into large chunks.
- 1 Large Yellow Onion, quartered
- 1 stalk celery, chopped into large chunks
- 1 packet of smoked bacon with lots of fat
- 1 tsp red chilies pepper
- 1 cup of red wine
- 1 can of chopped tomatoes with juice.
- 1/2 can of water (yes, I use the can as measuring instrument, that's what home cooks do!)
- salt and pepper to taste.
How to
Wash and pat dry the boar meat. To make the meat break down faster, I divided the meat into 2 inches strips, keeping the skin on. Using sharp knife, score the skin crisscross pattern, do be careful because it the skin is slippery. Season generously with salt and pepper. Cut the carrots, slice the onions and the celery. Chop the bacon into 1" slices. Drink a little bit of that red wine. If you can't drink it, don't use it!
In a dutch oven pot, or a heavy base stew pot, on a low heat, put in the bacon. Why the low heat? That's because it will render the fat out of the bacon without burning it. We are not using any oil in this recipe!
Remove the Bacon and turn the heat up to high, add the boar meat skin side down until nice and brown, flip the meat over and continue to brown the meat on all sides. Remove and set aside.
In the same pot, turn the heat to medium and add the garlic and onion, keep stirring the onion until they are almost translucent, then add the celery and carrots. Stir for about 1 to 2 minutes until all the vegetables received that heat and that is what will bring out the natural sweetness of the vegetables out into the stew.
Put the boar back into the pot along with all the juices, top off with the red wine, the tomatoes and water. Throw in the herbs, season with salt and pepper, and stir until all the herbs and tomatoes are mixed. Bring to Boil for about 2 to 5 minutes, then reduce to low. Close the lid.
Keep stirring every 30 minutes for about 2 to 2.5 hours depending on the cut of meat and how thick the meat is. The sauce will reduce to this beautiful coat-the-spoon-and-line-your-stomach-thick. If the sauce is too thick, just add 1/2 can of water or more if needed. Turn off the heat and let the sauce continue to cook inside the pot while you go ahead with your preparation of pasta.
Serve 5 with boiled potatoes, Pesto Mash Potatoes, rice, or bread.