Pasta al Ragù di Nonna Strazzanti

All Recipes
SERVES 4

Ingredient

  • 500g Durum Wheat Spaghetti or Turbanti (Dry)
  • 250g Minced Beef
  • 250g Minced Pork
  • 1 Medium Onion Finely Sliced
  • 15g Flat leaf Parsley
  • 200g Frozen Peas
  • 400g Chopped Tomatoes or 2 x Sugo di Pomodoro
  • 75g Pecorino Cheese Finely Grated
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Olive Oil & Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Wine pairing

  • Centopassi, Giato Rosso

 

Our Nonna Strazzanti 

A quiet woman but one who took care of the Strazzanti family with great pride. She loved to cook and made sure our bellies were full and always had a constant flow of coffee & pasta on the go.

Nonna Strazzanti & Nonno Strazzanti were at the head of the household, the back garden door was always open where friends and other members of the family would call in unannounced. They knew that the coffee would be there to greet them along with a plate of pasta being cooked! Nonna and her pasta speciality was this recipe of her ragu with peas inside!

We still remember the waft of that coffee mixed with the scent of the ragu slowly cooking, simmering away as we entered the house. Even today, when we make pasta al ragù di Nonna Strazzanti and have our coffee Moka afterwards to finish the meal, we are transported back to the home and memory of our Grandparents.

Method

To start, make the Ragu filling. In a large frying pan, heat up a few tbsps of olive oil and begin to fry both the minced meats until golden brown. Once browned season with salt and lots of freshly ground black pepper and transfer to a bowl.

In the same frying pan, add a few more tbsps of olive oil and fry the finely sliced onion until lightly golden and translucent. Once cooked add the picked and roughly chopped parsley and fry with the onion for a good 30 seconds.

Transfer the cooked minced meat back into the pan with the onion and parsley and mix well together before adding in the peas. At this stage you can either add in the 400g chopped tomatoes with a pinch of salt or the 2 x jars of Strazzanti sugo di pomodoro without salt, mix well.

*Tip: Rinse out the empty can of tomatoes or Sugo di Pomodoro jars with cold water halfway up, shake and add into the sauce.

Bring the ragu to a gentle simmer, cover with a lid and cook on a very low heat for 20 minutes using the chopped tomatoes or 15 minutes using the sugo di pomodoro, the mix should be quite dry.

Once the Ragu is cooked, check for seasoning and leave to rest whilst cooking the pasta. In a large saucepan, bring to the boil water. Once boiling add in 2 x heaped tsp of table salt and add in the pasta. Cook for 2 minutes less than the cooking time instructed on the pack of pasta.

Once the pasta is almost cooked, drain the pasta, reserving some of the pasta cooking water and mix a few tbsp of the water into the ragu sauce.

Turn on the heat and mix the pasta and ragu together, add in half of the grated pecorino cheese and mix well all together and with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Serve in 4 dishes and finish with an extra drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and more grated pecorino cheese on top.

Buon appetito!

Tips

  • Emilia & Dad love their spice so they always add Sicilian infused chilli oil on top of their Pasta to finish!
  • If the sauce is looking too dry add in a few extra tbsp of the pasta cooking water

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