One-Pot Wonders

Chunky Beef and Pork Ragu

by:
October 17, 2011
0
0 Ratings
Photo by sdebrango
  • Prep time 30 minutes
  • Cook time 4 hours
  • Serves 6-8 depending on serving size
Author Notes

Instead of meatballs often my Mom would put sizable chunks of beef and pork into the sauce and let it simmer all day until the meat is so tender it falls apart and the sauce is very thick and hearty, I like to serve this with homemade pasta.. I used olive oil to cook the meat and shallots but my Mom always used salt pork see note below regarding that method. —sdebrango

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 1 pound Chuck roast cut into chunks
  • 1 pound pork shoulder cut into chunks
  • 1 shallot diced
  • 2 cloves garlic smashed but left whole
  • 2 28 oz cans good quality crushed tomatoes
  • red wine to deglaze pan
  • Pinch Crushed red pepper
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 bay leaf (optional)
  • 4 fresh basil leaves torn
Directions
  1. Salt your meat. In dutch oven heat some olive oil, add shallots and cook until lightly browned, add the smashed garlic cloves and meat. Cook until meat is browned and deglaze with wine, add the bay leaf. Now add the tomatoes and basil and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, adust seasoning, cover and let simmer for at least 4 hours. Remove bay leaf before serving.
  2. NOTE:The crushed tomatoes are thick so I add a little water to each can after I dump in the tomatoes to thin the sauce a little. It will cook down and be very thick in the end .
  3. NOTE: My Mom cooked the shallot and meat in salt pork, I couldn't find any so used olive oil. Her method was as follows. She would scrape off about 2 tbs of the fat and add 1 clove of minced garlic and some parsley chopping so that the garlic was almost indistinguishable. She would then heat that until it liquifies and cook the shallots and meat in that. Olive oil is perfectly acceptable and delicious though. She never measured anything so its difficult to say exactly how much parsley but she did say one clove of garlic I would just pinch off the leaves of a few stems.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Niknud
    Niknud
  • SKK
    SKK
  • AntoniaJames
    AntoniaJames
  • sdebrango
    sdebrango
I have loved to cook for as long as I can remember, am self taught learning as I go. I come from a large Italian family and food was at the center of almost every gathering. My grandfather made his own wine and I remember the barrels of wine in the cellar of my grandfathers home, I watched my mother and aunts making homemade pasta and remember how wonderful it was to sit down to a truly amazing dinner. Cooking for me is a way to express myself its my creative outlet. I enjoy making all types of food but especially enjoy baking, I live in Brooklyn, NY, and I share my home with my two dogs Izzy and Nando. I like to collect cookbooks and scour magazines and newspapers for recipes. I hope one day to organize them.

7 Reviews

Griff December 29, 2020
You’re an alchemist with ingredients and proportion. Great recipe. Molto delicious.
 
sdebrango December 29, 2020
You are so kind thank you so much!❤️
 
thi October 12, 2014
Thank you. I am going to make this. When my family came here from Vietnam, our Italian neighbor across the street taught my mom a similar meat sauce with just beef though. Everything else is very similar. Thank you for sharing your recipe. Italian food remains my favorite cuisne.
 
thi October 12, 2014
What size can tomatoes?
 
Niknud October 18, 2011
Hahaha - why use beef when you can have beef AND pork! Love it - much easier than meatballs and you get rid of all the extraneous bits like eggs and milk and breadcrumbs and get right down to the important bits!
 
SKK October 17, 2011
Wonderful recipe! So much better than making meatballs, love the idea. Thanks for sharing your Mom's recipe!
 
AntoniaJames October 17, 2011
Thank you for sharing your mother's recipe. This is priceless!! Making it, ASAP. We are going to love it. ;o)