The true Neapolitan Ragù. The original recipe
The true “Neapolitan Ragù” is not just a sauce, a condiment, but it requires a lot of patience and passion. Each ingredient must have its own cooking times (in total, at least six hours!) and possibly should rest for a day.
The true Neapolitan ragù is dark red, otherwise it’s just meat with tomato and it must “peep” for at least 5-6 hours.
In Naples, ragù is the typical condiment for Sunday family lunch, special occasions, and holidays, ideal for lasagna, gnocchi, and pasta dishes.
In my recipe, I reveal all the family secrets to making “The true Neapolitan Ragù” (the traditional dark red one) with step-by-step photos, so you can’t go wrong, and the success of this dish on the table is assured.
In Naples, every family has its own ragù recipe, this is the original ragù from my family, passed down through generations and always a great success.
With this ragù, you can dress thick pasta (in Naples, they use “ziti spezzati”) gnocchi, lasagna, or tagliatelle.
The meat with ragù is also a delicious second course, the meat is very tender, even better if served with “friarielli” (a kind of tender broccoli rabe, sautéed raw in a pan with garlic, oil, and chili) and forms an excellent single dish.
The ragù, according to tradition, must peep (from peppijà = to make the sound of a pipe) it is an onomatopoeic expression indicating that propaedeutic phase close to the end of the Neapolitan ragù preparation, when from the bottom of the pot where the meat and tomato sauce is cooking, bubbles repeatedly rise to the surface, popping at the peak of tension and creating a sound similar to that of someone taking a puff from a pipe. The Tuscan translates rather imprecisely and superficially: simmer.
A Neapolitan ragù that simmers and does not peep for many hours, would not be a true ragù, just meat with tomato.
The secret to making the sauce peep lies – in addition to keeping the flame rather low – in not completely covering the pot with the lid, but placing the lid on one side of the pot while on the opposite side, place the lid not on the edge of the pot, but on the wooden spoon placed across the mouth, so as to create a small air circulation that prevents the sauce from gaining strength from the fire and prevents it from boiling over, which would ruin the whole affair.
Only after the sauce has peeped for several hours and the strange phenomenon of the separation of oil and lard occurs, with them surfacing and leaving the tomato sauce at the bottom of the pot, can you be sure that the ragù is achieved, and after a quick stir with the trusty wooden spoon, you can turn off the heat. (quote from the late Raffaele Bracale, here.)
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DOC Neapolitan Cuisine, a collection of ancient and modern Neapolitan recipes
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 1 Day
- Preparation time: 6 Hours
- Portions: 8 people
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Regional Italian
- Region: Campania
- Seasonality: All seasons, Fall, Winter, and Spring
Ingredients for the DOC Neapolitan Ragù
- 1.8 lbs beef rump (in Naples, we use the 'piccione' cut, it must be first-cut meat, I have it cut into LARGE pieces by the butcher (NO minced meat))
- 1.1 lbs pork gallinella (or 1.1 lbs of shoulder chops stuffed with fine salt, pepper, pecorino cheese cubes, minced garlic and parsley, raisins, and pine nuts tied with string)
- 1.1 lbs pork ribs (in Naples, they are called TRACCHIE)
- 2 sausages (optional)
- 3.5 oz smoked pancetta (rolled, cut into strips)
- 21.2 oz golden onions
- 3 tomato purées (I use Cirio purée from 24.7 oz)
- 7 oz tomato paste (preferably double or triple concentrate)
- 7 oz lard
- 3.5 oz extra virgin olive oil (quality)
- 1.3 cups dry red wine (preferably Gragnano or Aglianico)
- to taste black peppercorns (ground)
- 0.5 oz fine salt
- to taste fresh chili (optional)
- to taste grated parmesan (or pecorino, optional)
- to taste basil (optional)
Tools
- Cutting Board with two side trays, also oven safe
- Knife
- Cast Iron Pot Le Creuset
- High-Sided Casserole
- Mezzaluna
Steps for Neapolitan Ragù
First, finely chop the onions (no mixer), then take a high-sided casserole (preferably earthenware, cast iron, or copper) and soften the onions with extra virgin olive oil, lard, pancetta slices into pieces, pepper for about 12 minutes. I also add chopped chili because I like it, but in the traditional recipe only ground black pepper is included.
– PHASE I –
Then add all the meat to the casserole (first cut into large pieces, tracchie, pork gallinella (chops and sausages are optional) and brown over high heat for about 8 minutes (do not add salt) then cover with a lid for 10 minutes over medium heat, it is said that the meat must “stun”. When the onions start to color, uncover, stir, and turn the meat more often, adding little by little the dry red wine that must evaporate completely. Once this is done, the onions will be well browned, all traces of liquid will have disappeared, leaving only the fat that slowly simmers.
This first phase will keep you busy for about 1.5 hours starting from the insertion of the meat into the casserole. During all this time, it is not advisable to leave the stove: the onions could burn, ruining everything (better check every 30 minutes)
– PHASE II –
During this phase, the pork ribs (tracchiolelle) will surely be cooked and should be gently removed to avoid breaking and crumbling.
Then, increase the heat slightly to give it a little strength, but not much: just enough to accommodate the other ingredients that are cold.
Add no more than two or three tablespoons of double (or triple) tomato paste and let it fry until it becomes very dark. Be very careful: the paste must melt into the fat but not burn!
Only at this point, add more paste, always in the same quantities, and so on, always following the same procedure until you have finished it.
This second phase (even more delicate than the first because you have to control the cooking of the meat and because there’s a risk that the tomato will stick) will keep you busy for another 50 minutes or so (if the sauce tends to stick, switch to a non-stick pan.
– PHASE III –
At this point, raise the flame again for 2 minutes, add all the tomato purée, salt, hand-torn basil leaves, and no more than one ladle of boiling water (used to clean the tomato bottles) lower the heat to a minimum and uncovered, add all the meat again, initially cook for about an hour and then, covering as suggested in the introduction, let it peep (cook over very low heat) for at least 40 minutes
Let the meat rest in the sauce overnight at room temperature, the next day, turn on the heat again to a minimum and cook for about an hour, then remove the meat and let the sauce peep covered over minimum heat for about 40 minutes. .
The sauce will be cooked when it appears dense, glossy, very dark and greasy.
Check the salt, it shouldn’t be necessary to add more, put the meat back in the casserole and let it come to a boil for a few minutes before using it.
Ragù still bright red
Ragù, perfectly cooked, dark red
Cook the pasta al dente and dress it with plenty of ragù and grated parmesan or pecorino (optional). Or dress gnocchi, lasagna, or polenta with the ragù.
NOTES AND TIPS
It’s better to prepare the ragù the day before using it, letting it rest will make it even more flavorful.
According to some, when the first boil of the sauce begins, it should cook for another 2 hours, but they should be divided between the late afternoon of the previous day and the morning of the next day. In between, there should be a night of rest during which the meat amalgamates with the sauce.
With these quantities, you can dress about 800 g of pasta. If you need plenty of ragù for making Neapolitan lasagna, I recommend adding another 24.7 oz of tomato purée.
Shopping Tips!!!
To cook the ragù, I used this high-sided oval casserole from Le Creuset is perfect for slow cooking, like ragù, genovese, delicious and super tender roasts, it spreads the heat evenly and retains it for a long time, ensuring excellent results. The cost is not low, but now you can find it at a great price on Amazon, ideal Christmas gift.
To quickly chop vegetables, shred chocolate, nuts, and much more, this sharp double-blade mezzaluna is very handy.
You can purchase all the items I recommend above on Amazon at a great price, just click directly on the relative links.
FAQ (Questions and Answers)
What are the origins of Neapolitan Ragù?
This type of French preparation began to appear in Neapolitan cuisine around the 18th century, during the reign of Ferdinand IV of Bourbon, a period when there was a great influence of French culture and fashion at court; which is why many Neapolitan dishes took their names from the “distortions” of French cooks (“monzù”), like the ragù (ragout).
What does peep mean?
Peep (from peppijà = to make the sound of a pipe) is an onomatopoeic voice that indicates the sound similar to what is produced by someone taking a puff from a pipe when you reduce the flame under the pot to a minimum where the ragù should simmer, and you cover the sauce with the lid, leaving a small opening.
