Blood Orange Lamb Ragu w/ Mint Papparadelle & French Feta

Directions

1. Blood Orange Lamb Ragu
2. In a heavy bottom pot heat olive oil, add spices & zest and warm till fragrant then add in lamb, breaking it up into small pieces, season with salt & pepper, it will realize a lot of liquid, cook until almost all of it evaporated. It will take awhile, remove lamb with a slotted spoon and set aside.
3. Lower heat and mirepoix,and herbs. Sautee until caramelized, and dark rich brown (be really careful not to let them burn)
4. Stir in tomato paste and cook until it turns a dark rusty red (aka “Pincing”)
5. Add lamb back in, raise heat for a bit, add wine and deglaze, getting up all the brown bits, cook until wine has evaporated,
6. Pour in chicken broth, orange juice & tomatoes, braise over low heat for 3 hours. (can be done up to a day ahead)
7. Prepare pasta by boiling in well salted water,
8. Saute pasta briefly with ragu, adding small amounts of pasta water if too thick. Toss well , making sure that pasta is well coated
9. Serve with crumbled French feta, julienned fresh mint & finely grated blood orange zest.

1. Fresh Mint Papparadelle
2. Mound flour on a clean smooth work surface, make a well in center. Add eggs, salt, mint and 2 tablespoons water to well. With a fork, gently beat eggs and water until combined. Gradually stir in enough flour to form a paste, pulling in flour closest to egg mixture and being careful not to make an opening in outer wall of well. Knead remaining flour into mixture with your hands to form a dough, adding more water drop by drop if dough is too dry (dough should be firm and not sticky). Knead dough until smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. Place in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with clean dish towel and let sit @ an hour
3. Divide dough into 8 pieces, then flatten each piece into a rough rectangle, keep the rectangles you are not using covered. Set rollers of pasta machine on widest setting.
4. Lightly dust 1 rectangle with flour and feed through rollers. (Keep remaining rectangles under bowl.) Fold rectangle in half and feed it, folded end first, through rollers 7 or 8 more times, folding it in half each time and feeding folded end through. Dust with flour if necessary to prevent sticking. Turn dial to next (narrower) setting and feed dough through rollers without folding. Continue to feed dough through rollers once at each setting, without folding, until you reach narrowest setting. Dough will be a smooth sheet (about 36 inches long and 4 inches wide). Cut sheet crosswise in half. Cut into 1" wide ribbons, I use a sharp knife, you could use a pizza cutter, keep on cookies sheet in a single layer dusted with corn meal, with layer parchment paper as needed.