Classic Pork Ragu

Difficulty Intermediate | Serves 6 | Prep 25 mins | Cook 2 hours 20 mins

Ingredients

Diced

  • 1 kg New Zealand pork scotch steak, cut into 6cm piecess

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  • 2 tbsp plain flour

  • 1 tbsp sugar

  • 3 tbsp olive oil

  • 1 tsp smoked paprika

  • 1 onion, finely diced

  • 2 celery sticks, finely diced

  • 1 carrot, finely diced

  • 3 cloves garlic, crushed

  • 1 cup dry red wine

  • ½ cup chicken stock

  • 800g diced tomatoes, canned

  • 5 sprigs fresh thyme

  • 2 bay leaves

  • 400g dried pappardelle pasta

  • Finely grated parmesan to serve

  • ½ cup water


Gremolata

  • zest of 2 lemons, grated

  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped

  • ⅓ cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

Method

Season
Season the NZ pork steak strips with salt and pepper, then lightly dust with flour.

Fry
Heat some oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the NZ pork in batches and cook until evenly browned. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Add a little more oil to the pan and fry onion, celery, carrot, smoked paprika and garlic until soft – about 5 minutes. Add the wine and cook for a further minute before adding the stock, tomatoes, thyme and bay leaves.

Simmer
Return the pork to the pan, add the sugar and water, and stir until well combined. Cover and bring to the boil.
Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 1 hour and 30 minutes – stirring occasionally. Remove the lid and cook on low for a further 15 minutes until thick.

Prepare gremolata
While the pork ragu is cooking, prepare the ingredients for the gremolata and combine in a bowl.

Before serving
Before serving over freshly cooked pappardelle, remove the ragu from the heat and shred the NZ pork pieces with two forks.
Sprinkle each serving with gremolata and grated parmesan cheese.

From our friends at pork.co.nz