Pork Ragù al Maialino
- Total Time
- 2 hours 45 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1pork shoulder, bone in, roughly 4 pounds
- Kosher salt
- 3tablespoons olive oil
- 1medium white onion, peeled and cut into large pieces
- 1rib celery, cut into large pieces
- 1small fennel bulb, trimmed and cut into large pieces
- 1quart chicken stock (or enough to almost cover the pork)
- 3sprigs fresh thyme
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 4tablespoons unsalted butter
- 29-ounce boxes dry lasagna, broken into 3-inch shards
- 2tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2tablespoons grated grana Padano cheese
- 1tablespoon chopped parsley
- Small handful arugula leaves, cleaned
Preparation
- Step 1
Using a sharp knife, remove the thick skin from the pork, leaving a sheen of fat on top of the meat. Season aggressively with salt and place in the refrigerator until ready to use, as long as overnight.
- Step 2
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place a deep saucepan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons olive oil. When it shimmers, gently cook the onion, celery and fennel until they begin to soften, about 10 minutes. Add the stock and thyme and bring to a simmer, then season to taste with salt and pepper. Rinse pork to remove excess salt, dry with a paper towel and add to seasoned broth. Cover and place in the oven for 90 minutes or more, until the meat just begins to pull away from the bone.
- Step 3
Allow both meat and broth to cool on the stove top for 30 minutes, or until you can touch the meat with your hands. Remove the pork and gently pull the meat from the bone, then tear the chunks into bite-size shreds. Place these in a large bowl.
- Step 4
Strain the liquid into a separate bowl and then pour enough of it over the meat to barely cover. (Use the rest for soup.) Cover and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
- Step 5
Put a large pot of salted water over high heat and bring to a boil.
- Step 6
Place a large pan over medium-high heat and add the pork and braising liquid. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to medium and cook until the liquid is reduced by half. Add the butter and stir to emulsify.
- Step 7
Meanwhile, cook the pasta in salted water according to the directions on the package, 10 to 12 minutes. When it is finished, drain and add to the sauce along with a splash of pasta water. Simmer for 1 minute, then add the lemon juice, half of the cheese, a tablespoon of olive oil and the parsley. Stir to incorporate.
- Step 8
Serve immediately, topped with arugula and the remaining cheese.
Private Notes
Comments
Made 4/10/16 with 3 1/2 lbs boneless pork butt. I made so many changes: Marinated the night before using porchetta flavors (garlic, sage, rosemary, parsley, olive oil and lemon zest), then browned in olive oil and braised at 300 in less liquid than suggested (1 cup chicken stock and 1 cup wine ) with onion and celery added. I cooked at 300 oven to an internal meat temp of 200 to shred the pork. I used spinach in the ragu and much less pasta. Excellent
This is an outstanding dish and recipe, a favorite even of people who are not fond of pork. We make it the day before we want to serve it, tearing the meat while it is still warm and removing as much fat as possible, then cooling and defatting the broth. The lemon juice is necessary here, and we like more arugula than is called for. Have used other greens successfully (blanched spinach or collards), but the clean bitterness of arugula is best with the sweet, butter-bathed pork.
We loved this! I scaled it way down since there are just two of us. I browned the pork shoulder just for some color and added flavor.
I should have reduced it more but it was still good. I used pasta which I finished off in the broth. The lemon is important.
Because you can do most of this the day before it is good for a nice week night meal.
This tastes like pork used in Ruby Slipper's Egg's Cochon: Slow-cooked, apple-braised pork served over a buttermilk biscuit, topped with two poached eggs and finished with hollandaise sauce. Or serve over Grits with a bloody mary like a pork grillades brunch.
Found this recipe when trying to figure out what to do with leftover holiday Porchetta roast. Braised vegetables as in the recipe, but substitute some fennel seed since I didn’t have fennel. Deglazed with white wine – definitely a good touch. Put the remainder of the Porchetta roast through the Cuisinart and ground it coarsely. Added that to the softened vegetables. Topped with chicken stock and simmered. Fabulous way to use a tired Porchetta roast, and now I have leftover pork ragout for many more days.
Made this last night and used boneless chunked pork butt I had in the freezer. Followed recipe closely but not to a T and still turned out phenomenal. I’m looking forward to making soup with the broth later which I didn’t strain because the soft fennel, onion and celery were also great snacks while cooking. Definitely making again!