Tuscan Recipe

Tuscany has wonderfully simple dishes that start with phenomenally fresh ingredients and a huge variety of meats, salumi and cheeses to heighten the experience!  Probably the most well-know Tuscan dish is a pappardelle pasta (my favorite) with Ragu.  Now, the Ragu of choice is made with Boar, but for those of us that lack Boar running wild in our back woods can easily substitute it with more common North American meats!  Trust me on this one.

Here it is from the Master himself - Enjoy!

PAPPARDELLE WITH BOAR RAGU


Makes 4 Servings
Region: Toscana
Book: Babbo Cookbook (Clarkson Potter 2002), Mario Batali

INGREDIENTS
1 pound fresh boar, pork or venison sausage, cut into chunks

1 medium Spanish onion, cut into ¼ inch dice

1 medium carrot, peeled and finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 celery stalk, cut into ¼ inch dice

4 whole fresh sage leaves

2 cups dry white wine

1 16-oz can peeled whole plum tomatoes, crushed by hand with juices

1 cup brown chicken stock


PREPARATION

In a heavy-bottomed casserole or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium high heat until almost smoking. Cook the sausage in the olive oil until it is browned, 10 -12 minutes.
Remove the meat to a plate and ad the onions, carrot, garlic celery and sage to the casserole. Cook over low heat until softened 7 – 9 minutes. Add the wine, crushed tomatoes and their juices and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Return the meat to the pan, then lower the hat, partially cover and simmer for 1 hour. Keep warm.

Prepare pasta, fresh or dried (I prefer to go the extra mile for fresh), reserving 1/4 cup of the pasta water.  In a large pan, place ragu and pasta with a few spoons of pasta water and mix to incorporate over heat.

Serve immediately with some fresh Parmesan cheese.

Buon Appetito!