Lamb Ragu Not Drowned in Sauce Just The Way My Nona Made It !

Some people have asked me whats the difference between a Ragu and a Ragout? So Here it is no much! Read Below or if you want to skip the boring stuff get into the recipe and enjoy.

The difference between ragu and ragout isn’t really that much ragu is an Italian pasta sauce that is usually made with minced meat or vegetables and ragout is a French style stew that would normally be found on-top of a Paris style mash but the Italians would do this on-top of polenta. To be honest this is more of a ragout but because I’m serving this with pasta and its my Nona’s recipe today its ragu because that’s what we called it.

In our house I cook lamb ragu at least once a month and I love using the lamb shanks as ill always keep some on the bone and serve it with a creamy mash potato or polenta you could also take this mix and make an Italian version of a shepherd’s pie.

My all-time favourite is pasta so what I’m giving you here is the recipe to serve a very large family so prepare for plenty of extras and trust me you will not be sorry.

I’m not going to ramble on about how to make your pasta but do me a favour and don’t drown the pasta in the sauce, let the sauce be one with the pasta so you can taste the actual pasta itself.

I’ve used spaghetti , a nice durum wheat style. (Dolce and Gabbana brand from Simon Johnson) This dish traditionally would be served with pappardelle but I’m not that big a fan I much rather a tagliatelle or linguini.

Finish this dish with a really good extra virgin olive oil I’ve used Lorenzo N.5 again from Simon Johnson. Two cheeses are great here Grana Padano or Pecorino Romano, if you like use a bit of both because that just adds another level of awesomeness and its 2021 so why the bloody hell not.

Approx. 8hrs but for best results marinade overnight

Serves 8 - 10

Ingredients

4 large lamb shanks

2 carrots, cut into brunoise

2 celery sticks, cut into brunoise

2 small red onions, cut into brunoise

4 garlic cloves, chopped finely

1 tablespoon tomato paste

3 cups red wine

4 sprigs thyme

2 sprigs rosemary

300ml lamb or chicken stock, water is also fine

2 x 400g whole tinned tomatoes

100ml olive oil

To Finish

Salt and freshly ground white pepper

1 bunch parsley finely chopped

1 packet of Spaghetti Dolce and Gabbana snapped or 2 packs of any normal pasta

Block of Grana Padano or Pecorino Romano

Lorenzo N.5 extra virgin olive oil or any one that you love

Method

In a deep bowl place, the lamb shanks, carrot, celery, red onion, garlic, thyme and rosemary, add red wine and marinade over night or for at least 3hrs.

The next day strain off the lamb shanks and veggies keeping the wine. Pre heat the oven to 150 degrees. Grab a large heavy based pot or casserole dish, add half the olive oil and on a high heat seal off the lamb shanks until dark brown, set aside.

In the same pot add the remaining oil, veggies and cook for 15 minutes add the tomato paste and cook till split (the oil will come apart from the paste) add the wine and reduce by half, add the lamb shanks, cover with stock and tinned whole tomatoes. Bring to a boil and place in the oven for 3-hrs until shanks are soft and falling from the bone.

Strip the bones of the meat and shred being careful not to burn yourself. Remove the Thyme and Rosemary and discard. Simmer the sauce until reduced by almost half. At this stage I like to crush the tomatoes and squash some of the vegetables, add the Shredded lamb shank meat back to the sauce and season with salt and freshly ground pepper.

Place a large stock pot of salted water on the boil, add the pasta and cook for 7 minutes (if using Dolce Gabbana) or whatever your packet of pasta says cook 1 minute less. Drain the pasta and back in to the pasta pot add all the ragu sauce, mix well and add the pasta. Turn the heat back on high and cook for a further minute stirring regularly. Add the chopped parsley and remove from the heat taste for seasoning and serve immediately with the cheese of your choice grated on-top and a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, freshly torn basil is also a great addition here if you would like.

As You Can See The Sauce is One With The Pasta Make Sure You Grab All The Bits From The Side Of The Pot

You could cook less pasta and save some of the ragu for another day or another dish this ragu will last about 2 weeks in the fridge or 3 months in the freezer.