Lamb ragu

Lamb ragu with mafaldine pasta

This vaguely Sicilian inspired ragu includes mint, both fresh and dried, a hint of chilli, and plenty of red wine. My husband gave it a 10/10, a very rare accolade!  I took my original inspiration from Nigella’s lamb ragu recipe in her book Nigellissima, but have adapted it quite heavily. This recipe did inspire me to try mafaldine though, a type of curly edged pasta. It really makes this dish feel special, it’s wide ribbons give the satisfying bite of pappardelle but with an extra bit of frill on the edges which help to capture the sauce. It is much more expensive than pappardelle and I wouldn’t say it’s essential to this recipe at all, you can use whichever pasta you prefer but it is pretty and makes a nice treat.  

Serves 5  

Time 1 hour

Ingredients

Mafaldine pasta, also known as reginette, mafalda or mafalde

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 1 onion, diced

• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

• 1 carrot, peeled and diced

• 1 stick celery, ends trimmed, and diced

• 2 tsp dried mint

• 2 tsp dried oregano

• ½ tsp dried chilli flakes

• 500g minced lamb

• 200ml red wine

• 2 x 400g cans of chopped tomatoes

• 3 tsp redcurrant jelly

• 3 tsp Worcestershire sauce

• 500g mafaldine or pasta of your choice

• Fresh mint, sliced or roughly torn to serve (optional)

• Parmesan, grated (optional)

• Salt and pepper

Method

1. Heat the oil in a pan and gently fry the onions for a couple of minutes then add the garlic and fry for a further minute.

2. Add the carrots and celery and fry for another few minutes.

3. Add the dried mint, oregano and dried chilli flakes and stir then turn up the heat and add the lamb. Stir it and break up any big pieces until it is all browned.

4. Pour in the red wine and simmer for about two minutes, letting the alcohol evaporate off.

5. Add the chopped tomatoes, redcurrant jelly, Worcestershire sauce and some salt and pepper, then mix everything together and bring it to a boil.

6. Lower the heat, cover the pan and leave it to bubble away for about 30 minutes. Then remove the lid and let it simmer for a further 20 minutes, by the end of this time the sauce should have reduced and thickened nicely. Turn the heat off and leave it whilst you make the pasta, you will find it continues to thicken slightly.

7. Cook your pasta, drain but reserve a small mug of the pasta cooking water.

8. Put the pasta back in the pot on a low heat and then spoon the ragu into the pasta and gently mix.  Add some of the reserved pasta water if you feel it needs to be loosened up a bit.

9. Spoon in to bowls and top with the fresh mint and/or fresh grated parmesan if you like.