Wild Boar Ragù

On a cold winter night, nothing beats a hearty, meaty sauce for pasta. I recently had access to two wild boar loins out west, and having recently made a pulled-beef "bolognese" of sorts at home in VT, I knew EXACTLY what I had to do with these little guys: make one of my all-time favorite dishes (pre-no-gluten) to order at an Italian restaurant, Pappardelle al Ragù Di Cinghale or Pappardelle with Wild Boar Ragu.

This is shockingly easy, and the rewards are tremendous. I made this with rice spaghetti and fusilli, but I find it best with pappardelle (I'm still looking for rice pappardelle, good luck...). It will serve 8 easily, with extras for lunch or dinner the next day or two. Serve with a hearty green salad.

Wild Boar Ragu
4 cups tomato sauce:
  3 tbsp olive oil
  1 small yellow onion, chopped
  2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  2 carrots, peeled and shredded
  1 stalk celery, chopped
  40-ounces canned whole tomatoes
  1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves

  3 bay leaves 

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 slices bacon, rendered
2 pounds boneless wild boar meat, such as tenderloins

1 cup red wine, such as Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah
1 tbsp dried chili flakes
Cocoa powder, to taste (I used about a tablespoon)
1 cinnamon stick
5 cloves
3 sun-dried tomatoes
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
Salt and black pepper to taste

For the sauce, heat olive oil until warm over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion, garlic, carrots, and celery. Cook until the onions are translucent and vegetables tender. Add the tomatoes, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Cook over low heat, partially covered, for 45 minutes to an hour. Set aside.

In a large cast-iron pot, heat the oil and add the bacon, cooking until the fat is rendered. Add the boar and gently brown. Add the tomato sauce, red wine, and seasonings and vinegar, to taste. Bring to a boil. Return to low heat.

Place in a 300-degree oven (at 8000 ft; 250 at sea level) for 2-3 hours, or until the meat is very tender. The longer you simmer the dish, the tenderer the meat will become.

The ragù is ready to eat when the meat has totally fallen apart and the meat has absorbed most of the liquid. Take out the cinnamon stick and bay leaves before serving.

Serve over a wide pasta of your choice and top with freshly grated Parmigiano cheese. Accompany with some crusty peasant bread and a good red wine, preferably a strong Italian, like Amarone or Barolo.

Even the puppies know what is going on ;)

A Figgy Finale

Saturday night's dinner was the culmination of two and half days of cooking my way through a batch of twenty fresh figs (and some dried ones, as well). Ever since my friends Meghan and Lindsay took me to Sfoglia to celebrate my birthday (the day before -- twas a week full of celebrations), I have been obsessed with a dish the chef, Ron, actually came to my former employer to cook: Pasta with Figs, Brown Butter, Basil, and Hazelnuts. I had a bag of handmade, homemade pappardelle in my freezer. More figs than I could eat in one sitting. And some fresh basil I had been growing for the past two weeks in a NY windowsill.

I started the evening off making a red wine-fig vinaigrette with a 1/3 full bottle of one of my favorite red wines (Heitz Cabernet -- loved visiting this winery!) and five dried figs I had on hand. I tossed this with some baby spinach from the greenmarket, and voila - a healthy dose of greens!

I then proceeded to finish cooking off my pasta and browning my butter. I added the fresh figs and basil, with a pinch of salt, to the browned butter and tossed them together, cooking them til the flavors
melded. To that I added my cooked pasta with about 1/4 c pasta water. Brought the mixture to a gentle boil and tossed the ingredients together while the sauce reduced slightly. Served with a healthy dose of grated gruyere, and a garnish of sauteed spicy Italian sausage (I had no toasted hazelnuts on hand, but the pasta is very good with plain, roasted, salted mixed nuts), it was a delicious dish to end a busy day.

Spicy Italian sausage

The finished dish, pasta atop greens

Red Wine Fig Vinaigrette

1 1/2 - 2 cups red wine
5-6 dried figs, quartered
6 demerara sugar cubes
2 tbsp champagne vinegar
Grapeseed oil (I used about 1/4 c)

In a 8" saucepan, bring figs and wine to a boil and reduce until about 1/4" deep (1/2 cup of liquid, or thereabouts). Add the sugar and stir to dissolve. Remove from heat and let cool. Pour wine mixture into a jar and add oil and vinegar, shaking to homogenize. Season to taste.

Fig, Brown Butter, Basil Pasta
Serves 2

6 tbsp salted butter
8 figs, quartered
1/2 c basil leaves
Salt to taste
Pappardelle, or another thicker noodle, enough for 2 people
2 spicy Italian chicken sausages, cooked and sliced on the bias, optional
Toasted hazelnuts or mixed nuts, optional
Freshly grated gruyere to taste.

Boil water for the pasta. While the water comes to a boil, heat a 12" sautepan over medium heat. Add the butter and cook, swirling occasionally, until the butter begins to brown and smells nutty. Take the brown color to a dark chocolate color, remove the pan from the heat and add the figs and basil. Season to taste. Cook the pasta as instructed, draining all but 1/4 c pasta water. Add the pasta and reserved water to the sautepan (if it fits -- if not, add to pasta pot).  Toss gently and bring to a boil to reduce the sauce slightly. Plate the pasta, garnishing with chicken sausages and freshly grated gruyere. And basil chiffonade, if you please!

At a loss for what to make for dinner?

Try this delicious mushroom ragout recipe! It's perfect in a pinch, and even better if you have some delicious fresh wild mushrooms. I used a mixture of cremini, shiitakes, and oyster mushrooms. Pour a glass of a big chardonnay, and curl up by the fire.

I found - and made - this dish as a vegetarian special at school. It was quite easy to make and a treat to eat! It is based on a recipe from Giada deLaurentiis. I tweaked it, making the ragout in advance and cooking it til quite dry. For service, we heated the fettuccine and then separately heated the ragout with some cream. Once both were warm, I added the pasta to the sauce and tossed it with some extra pasta water. I then plated the mixture, and topped it with a hearty amount of fresh parmesan and chopped basil and parsley. Next time I make this, I might even try gruyere and swiss!

Enjoy!

1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound mixed mushrooms, chopped
salt and pepper
1/2 marsala
2 c chicken broth
1/3 c heavy cream
5 fresh basil leaves
1/4 c flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/2 to 3/4 c grated parmesan

Heat the oil in a large skillet. When hot, add the onion and garlic. Cook over medium heat until the onions are very translucent (8 min or so). Add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Raise the heat and saute until the mushrooms are tender. Add the marsala to pan with it off the heat. Bring the heat back to the fire and cook til wine has evaporated. Add the chicken stock and simmer for a 1/2 hour until the sauce is reduced by half. Add the heavy cream and mix well. Season to taste and add the fresh parmesan and herbs.

Serve hot with pappardelle, tagliatelle or fettuccine