Recipe from Laura

Ragu alla Fiorentina

Ragu is a general term here in Italy for a meat sauce, slow cooked on a low heat for many hours.
 
There are a number of variations and ingredients used, which vary depending on the region in Italy with the most famous being from Bologna. You’ll find ragu recipes with one type of meat, many types of meat, some with garlic, others without, some start with a soffritto and others don’t.
 
Laura’s Florentine-inspired ragu calls for aromatic herbs and she has made some modifications based on her personal preferences to make it her own. You'll find that most ragu recipes use tomato paste but Laura’s preference is whole, peeled canned tomatoes as she finds tomato paste to be a bit salty.
 
This is a dish that can be enjoyed with our L’aura or Sei.

INGREDIENTS 
300 g minced beef (2/3 lb.)
200 g minced pork (1/2 lb.)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove 
Fresh rosemary, thyme & bay leaves
800 g canned whole peeled tomatoes (28 oz)
Pinch of Pepperoncino/chili pepper
1 glass red wine
Grated Parmigiano
Fresh or dried pasta 

1. Peel and crush the garlic and put in a blender with the aromatic herbs (rosemary, thyme, bay leaves) briefly until you have 1-2 tablespoons of mixed herbs. You can also chop up with a knife if you do not have a blender.
2. Mix the olive oil and a little salt and pepper with the meat, along with the herb mixture with your hands until it is combined nicely together.
3. Put the meat in a large pan and cook on high heat until it starts to brown.
4. Once browned, add 1 glass of red wine to the meat and continue to cook.
5. Cut up the whole tomatoes. When the wine evaporates and you no longer have the smell of the vino, add the tomatoes to the pan.
6. Take the empty can of tomatoes and add water up until about the 1/2 mark. Add the water to the sauce. Cover and let cook for about 2 hours.
7. Cook the pasta “al dente” and add the stained pasta to the pan with the sauce and cook at a low heat. Add pasta water if needed to thicken the sauce.
8. Add salt, pepper and the chili pepper as needed/desired.
9. Serve the pasta with grated Parmigiano cheese. 

You can watch the video of Laura’s cooking demo on Facebook.

SEE LAURA'S COOKING DEMO