Winter ragu with beef and pancetta

This recipe is adapted from Michaela Chiappa’s Simply Italian version. I cook mine in the oven so that I can potter round the house rather than stand watch over the stove. It’s a great alternative to Bolognese- and you know how strongly I feel about Bolognese- so trust me when I say it’s worth a go.

Ingredients

• 100gms pancetta cubes
• 1 large onion finely chopped
• 1 large carrot finely diced
• 2 sticks celery finely diced
• 1kg lean beef mince
• 1 large glass red wine
• 140gms tomato puree (you can buy tiny tins in the supermarket which are exactly the right amount)
• 2 beef stock cubes
• 2 bay leaves
• Olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves chopped
• Parmesan to serve
• Parpadelle or tagliatelle for six people

Method

1. You will need a big (and I mean BIG) casserole dish with a lid for the ragu, as well as a small frying pan to brown the pancetta in. While you find the casserole, put the oven on to preheat at 150oC.
2. Put the frying pan over a medium heat and add the pancetta allowing it to brown and go crispy. Once it’s done, remove from the heat and tip the pancetta on to a plate lined with kitchen paper to drain off the fat.
3. Meanwhile, add 2tbsp of oil to the casserole, add the beef and brown all over.
4. Chop all the veg and add to the pan along with the pancetta. Fry for 10mins to soften, then pour in the wine and bring to the boil to reduce the alcohol.
5. Crumble in the bay leaves and add the tomato puree. Make up the stock cubes with 500ml of boiling water and add to the pan.
6. Bring the mixture back to a simmer then put the lid on and bake in the oven for three hours. I like to stir the ragu every hour.
7. After three hours check the seasoning- you will probably need pepper but not salt as the pancetta is quite salty. Remove two ladles of sauce to a blender (or you could use a hand blender) and blitz to make the sauce smooth, then stir this back into the main pot of ragu. This step is optional and purely for texture- if you like it chunky don’t bother- it’s good either way.
8. Cook your pasta and serve the ragu with lots of parmesan.

Note- once the three hours cooking time is up you can also cool the ragu and it will keep well in the fridge or freezer until needed.