Today, we prepare ragu, not the traditional kind, but a light and quick meat ragu!
Traditionally, ragu is a meat sauce: a single piece in the Neapolitan version, ground meat in the Bolognese; certainly not lean.
It’s made with tomato paste and puree, and cooked slowly over low heat, so it’s not quick.
In Sicily, in the Ragusa area, it’s traditional to serve it at Carnival on macaroni: “maccarruna co sugu” and the sauce is a ragu that is anything but light, made with pork rind and sausage.
For my light ragu, I used ingredients and methods that allowed me to achieve a digestible and light sauce in a short time.
On holidays, Sundays, or simply when you feel like it, it’s excellent on tagliatelle and for filling lasagna and baked pasta.
The light and quick meat ragu pasta is a one-dish meal because it combines the characteristics that distinguish a balanced meal in a single course.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 2 People
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients
For my ragu preparation, I used:
• selected ground meat, a mix of beef and pork, lean first cut [for an even leaner ragu, you can use ground white meat, such as chicken or turkey, preferably breast].
- to taste soffritto mix (carrots, onions, celery)
- 9 oz mixed ground beef and pork (lean first cut)
- 1 small glass white wine
- 1 cup tomato sauce (homemade)
- 1 vegetable stock cube (homemade [optional])
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch mixed peppercorns (with grinder)
Suggested Tools
- 1 Casserole Dish with lid, preferably glass
- 1 Spatula silicone
Preparation
Prepare plenty of tomato sauce.
Clean and wash the vegetables well: carrots, onions, and celery, then cut them into chunks.
Often for convenience or when I don’t have fresh vegetables, I use a frozen soffritto mix.Put the vegetables in a casserole and heat them up.
Add the ground meat, mixing and breaking it up with a silicone spatula.
Splash with white wine and continue mixing until it is fully evaporated.
Add the tomato sauce and blend.
Add a vegetable stock cube [optional] and blend until dissolved among the meat.
Add a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper.Let it cook with a lid, preferably glass, and on low heat for 5-10 minutes until the ragu reaches the desired consistency.
When the ragu is about to tighten, stir repeatedly to prevent it from sticking to the pot’s bottom.Cooking times vary depending on the tomato sauce’s more or less liquid consistency and the ragu’s use: thicker if used to directly dress pasta and more liquid if the pasta is baked.
If necessary, adjust for salt.Your light and quick meat ragu is ready.
Enjoy your meal!
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
For my ragu preparation, I used:
• selected ground meat, a mix of beef and pork, lean first cut.
Which meat for ragu?
• beef;
• pork;
• mixed beef and pork;
• chicken;
• turkey.Meat cuts for ragu
For a light meat ragu, ask for a selected ground meat cut, meaning a lean first cut.
Your trusted butcher will serve you best.
For your knowledge, the lean cuts are:
• eye of round or silverside for beef;
• filet or loin for pork;
* the loin is a cut where the lean part is visibly distinguished from the fat part, making it easy to trim.Which ground meat for ragu?
First-cut ground meat is leaner.
Second-cut ground meat is fattier.
For a light meat ragu, choose first-cut ground meat.
