Original Neapolitan Genovese

Genovese is a very tasty Neapolitan first course, a white meat and onion ragout with a characteristic very dark color that must cook for more than two hours. If you are presented with a pale-colored Genovese, it is NOT Genovese, but meat and onions!

The Neapolitan Genovese sauce has ancient origins, but it is still a very appreciated preparation by Neapolitan families who generally prepare it for Sunday lunch or on special occasions. It was already mentioned by famous authors such as Vincenzo Corrado, an Italian chef and writer, who talked about it in his work “Cucina Napoletana” in the first edition of 1832; later, it was also mentioned by Don Ippolito Cavalcanti, Duke of Buonvicino, a noble Neapolitan Italian writer expert in cuisine, who discussed it in his work “Cucina teorico pratica” published in 1837.

The Neapolitan Genovese is strictly used to dress broken long Ziti because breaking the pasta by hand creates crumbs that soak up the sauce well, becoming a delightful bite.

The original Neapolitan Genovese is a fabulous sauce for pasta, but it is equally fabulous as a second course because the slow cooking makes the meat so tender that it can be cut with a breadstick, and it also serves as an excellent main dish.

If you love Neapolitan cuisine, search for more recipes from my Special: “Doc Neapolitan Cuisine“.

Ingredients for the Original Neapolitan Genovese

4.4 lbs copper onions (preferably from Montoro)
2.2 lbs veal brisket + muscle
2.1 oz lard
7 oz extra virgin olive oil (quality)
1 celery stalk
2 carrots
1.3 cups dry white wine
to taste salt
to taste black pepper
3.5 oz pecorino cheese (grated)
21 oz long ziti (broken by hand (or candles))
Half Annurca apple (grated, or half boiled potato, optional)

Tools

Pot
Knife
Cast iron pot

Steps for the Original Neapolitan Genovese

Peel and slice the onions to a thickness of ¼ inch.
Take a pot with high sides (preferably earthenware or cast iron) and heat the oil with the lard, then add the onions and let them soften for 5 minutes on medium heat, along with the carrots and celery.
Then add the meat (I buy it already cut into pieces from the butcher) and let it brown over high heat for another 5 minutes, then cover and cook over medium heat for an hour, the onions should become transparent and all the liquid should evaporate.
Only when the onions are dry enough, pour the first glass of white wine and cook for 40 minutes on very low heat. Then pour another glass of wine, the pepper, the salt, and cook for another 40 minutes on very low heat. The sauce should become very dark as in the photo.
Put the salted water for the pasta on to boil, add the hand-broken ziti with their crumbs and cook al dente.
Pour the al dente ziti into the Genovese with a ladle of pasta cooking water, add the pecorino and pepper and serve hot.

Notes and Tips

In some Neapolitan families, to make the dish more delicious and creamy, during cooking, they add a half grated Annurca apple or half boiled potato and parmesan cheese rinds, and at the end of cooking, the addition of basil leaves.

Shopping Tips!!!

To cook Neapolitan Genovese, I used this Le Creuset high-edged oval casserole is perfect for slow cooking, like ragù, Genovese, delicious and super tender roasts, it distributes heat evenly and retains it for a long time, guaranteeing excellent results. The price is high, but now you can find it at a great price/quality ratio on Amazon (when I bought it, there was also the possibility to pay in installments).

Also very useful is this Lagostina stainless steel pot with double bottom.

You can purchase all the items I recommend above, on Amazon, at a great price, just click directly on the related links.

FAQ (Questions and Answers)

History and Origins of the Original Neapolitan Genovese?
This Neapolitan sauce is called “Genovese” because it is said to have been first prepared at the end of the 1400s by certain Genoese cooks who opened a tavern in Naples at the Loggia di Genova, an area close to the port where the Genoese colony stationed in Naples self-administered. The late Raffaele Bracale, however, presents another more romantic school of thought, telling of a chef from Geneva (Geneve, hence Genovese) who introduced this variant of the soupe d’oignons at Court or in some aristocratic kitchen, but concludes by writing that: in reality, there is no sure news about the Genovese and the chronicler can have fun inventing them all.

Delicious Recipes

Original Neapolitan Genovese, explained step by step