Ragù Napoletano

Ingredients

For 8 servings.

Braciole

• 600 g beef, thinly sliced (topside or silverside) (ask the butcher to slice it thin for braciole, about 1cm)
• 50 g Pecorino Romano, grated
• a small bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 30 g raisins
• 30 g pine nuts
• to tie kitchen string

Meat and sauce

• 500 g pork spare ribs
• 300 g Italian pork sausage
• 60 ml lard or olive oil
• 2 medium white onion, finely diced
• 200 ml dry red wine
• 60 g tomato paste
• 1400 g San Marzano tomatoes, canned (roughly two 700g cans)
• a handful fresh basil
• to taste salt and black pepper

To serve

• 600 g rigatoni, ziti, or paccheri
• to finish Parmigiano Reggiano or Pecorino, grated

Method

1. 1. Make the braciole

   Lay the beef slices flat on a board. Mix the Pecorino, parsley, garlic, raisins, and pine nuts. Spread a thin layer over each slice. Roll tightly and tie with kitchen string at both ends and in the middle.

   Don't overfill them. Too much filling and they burst open during the long cook.

2. 2. Brown all the meat

   Heat the lard or oil in a large heavy-bottomed pot over high heat. Brown the braciole all over, then remove. Do the same with the ribs and sausage in batches. Don't crowd the pot. Set all the meat aside.

   The brown crust on the meat and the bits stuck to the bottom of the pot are where most of the flavour lives. Don't rush this stage.

3. 3. Onion and tomato paste

   Reduce to medium heat. Add the onion to the same pot and cook for 10 minutes until soft and golden. Add the tomato paste and cook for 3 to 4 minutes, stirring, until it darkens slightly.

4. 4. Add wine and tomatoes

   Pour in the red wine and let it evaporate, about 3 minutes. Crush the canned tomatoes in by hand. Add a few basil leaves. Return all the browned meat to the pot and nestle it into the sauce.

5. 5. Six hours on low

   Bring to a very gentle simmer, then reduce to the lowest setting. The surface should barely move — a bubble every few seconds. Cook uncovered for 5 to 6 hours, stirring every 30 to 45 minutes. The sauce will reduce and darken significantly. Add a small splash of water only if it's catching on the bottom.

   Neapolitan ragù is traditionally described as 'pippiando' — a dialect word for the sound of a very gentle, almost imperceptible bubble. More than that and the heat is too high; the meat tightens up and the sauce burns.

6. 6. Cook the pasta and serve

   Remove the meat from the sauce. Cook the pasta in well-salted boiling water until al dente. Dress with the ragù and plenty of cheese. Serve the braciole, ribs, and sausage as a second course with any remaining sauce alongside.

   Remove the kitchen string from the braciole before serving. Cut them open at the table — they hold their shape and the filling stays together.

Nutrition per serving

• 720 kcal
• Protein: 42g
• Carbs: 76g
• Fat: 24g

A bit of history

Ragù napoletano is not the same as Bolognese. Where the northern version is a finely minced meat sauce, the Neapolitan ragù uses whole cuts of meat slow-braised in tomato until the sauce and the meat have almost merged. Tomatoes arrived in southern Italy before the north and were being used in Neapolitan cooking by the mid-1700s.

Sunday ragù is a ritual in Naples. The pot goes on early in the morning and the cooking fills the house for the rest of the day. The tradition of pasta with the sauce as a first course and the braised meat as a second is how a single large pot serves two courses for the whole table. The recipes vary significantly house to house — the combination of meats, the fat used, the choice of pasta — but the long cook and the structure are constant.