A Quick Ragu for a Weeknight

Last night, I made a delicious dish from Keeping it Simple by Yasmin Fahr, a 'less than an hour ragu.' I was a little skeptical but determined. The other meals we have had from that cookbook have been successful so far.

You start by browning and rendering pancetta and ground beef. I think this is the first stroke of brilliance. Adding pancetta give a layer of flavor that the ground beef alone wouldn't give. Once it is browned and rendered, you remove to another plate.

Next, to the same pot, you add chopped celery, carrot, and red onion.

Once they have softened, add garlic and red pepper flakes. Deglaze with some red wine. Add 28 ounces of whole canned tomatoes and some water. Let everything boil for about 10 minutes to let the tomatoes break down (which was a quicker process than I'd expected).

Add the spaghetti straight into the sauce to cook. This is where it got a little dicey, because it kept seeming as if the pot was drying out way too much and that the spaghetti would not get fully cooked. I did add about 2 more total cups of water than the recipe in the book called for. Once the pasta is almost-but-not-quite cooked, I added the reserved meat back into the pot.

We were so happy with this meal! It had a lot of depth of flavor and did not require the hours of old-fashioned bolognese. 

Fast Ragu with our adaptations:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 5 oz diced pancetta
• 1 carrot, 1 celery stalk, 1 red onion: all neatly chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic minced, or 1 teaspoon of pre-minced garlic
• 1/2 t. red pepper flakes
• 1/2 c. red wine. I used a Syrah that we also drank with dinner.
• 28 oz. whole peeled canned tomatoes
• 1-3 c water (add only 1 cup with the tomatoes, and add in more liquid as the pasta cooks once added)
• 1 lb spaghetti (I bet whole wheat pasta would work fine; gluten free; or some shorter pasta like penne). But if you're going to use zucchini noodles or something other than pasta, I'd probably use less water in the recipe and cook those separately from the sauce.)

Today's Delights:

• I finished an audiobook and another book yesterday!
• I found a solution to a hard file at work yesterday.
• The sun was out all day yesterday, and I'm really able to tell that the days are getting longer -- such a relief!

Try to be delighted! Love, A