This dish is a proper nod to Tuscany (Pappardelle al Cinghiale) - rich, slow-cooked ragu tossed through fresh pappardelle. Traditionally, it’s made with wild boar from local hunts, but since that’s not easy to get your hands on here, I’ve swapped in pork shoulder and built the flavour with a red wine marinade, guanciale and loads of aromatics. The sauce cooks low and slow until it basically melts. We’re keeping it classic, but with a few tweaks to make it doable in your home kitchen.
Category
Dinner
Servings
4
Prep time
45 minutes
Cook time
4 hours 30 minutes
This dish is a nod to Tuscany (Pappardelle al Cinghiale) - rich, slow-cooked ragu tossed through fresh pappardelle. Traditionally, it’s made with wild boar from local hunts, but since that’s not easy to get your hands on here, I’ve swapped in pork shoulder and built the flavour with a red wine marinade, guanciale and loads of aromatics. The sauce cooks low and slow until it basically melts. We’re keeping it classic, but with a few tweaks to make it doable in your home kitchen.
Note: start the day before so the pork shoulder can marinate overnight.
Ingredients
- 750g pork shoulder (or wild boar if available), diced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 100g Guanciale, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 brown onion, finely diced
- 1 carrot, finely diced
- 1 celery stick, finely diced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste (tomato puree)
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 800g peeled tomatoes
- 1 onion, peeled, cut into quarters
- 1 carrot, cut into large chunks
- 1 celery stick, cut into chunks
- 2 bay leaves
- 10 juniper berries
- 2 cloves
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 3 cloves garlic
- 700ml bottle red wine (chianti, sangiovese, merlot, montepulciano)
- Sea salt and black pepper
- 300g ‘00’ flour, plus extra for dusting
- 3 eggs
- 2 tsp olive oil
- ½ tsp fine salt
Marinade
Pasta dough
Directions
Marinate the pork
Place the pork in a large bowl or deep plastic container. Add all the marinade ingredients and season with salt and pepper.
- Stir gently to combine, then cover and refrigerate overnight, up to 24 hours.
Cook the pork ragu
Drain the pork from the marinade, reserving the liquid. Chop the pork into a fine dice (about 1cm).
- Heat half the oil in a large heavy based saucepan on medium-low heat. Cook the guanciale for 8-10 minutes, until golden and crisp.
- Add remaining oil and increase heat to medium. Add garlic and allow to bloom in oil for 1-2 minutes, until aromatic.
- Stir in onion, carrot and celery and cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened and starting to colour.
- Stir in tomato paste and pork and cook, stirring for 1 minute until well incorporated. Lightly crush the peeled tomatoes then add to the pan. Stir in the reserved marinade liquid, bay leaves and rosemary.
- Bring to a simmer, then cover and cook for 4 hours, stirring every 30 minutes and checking for doneness after 2½ hours. Remove the lid after the hour mark. Don’t let it get to a boil, reduce the heat if you need to.
Prep the pasta dough
Place the flour in a mound on a clean work surface. Made an indent in the middle.
- Crack the eggs into the middle, then drizzle in oil and the salt. Whisk the eggs with a fork then slowly begin to incorporate the flour from around the edges.
- Continue mixing until all the flour is incorporated, then begin kneading the dough until smooth and elastic. Wrap the dough in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes to rest.
Roll out pasta dough
Lightly flour a clean work surface. Halve the pasta dough (cover the other half so it doesn’t dry out) and roll 1 portion out to a rectangle about 1cm thick.
- Lightly dust a pasta machine and begin on the thickest setting on medium speed at one end to thin out the dough. Roll through the machine again, then repeat the fold and roll though the machine.
- Continue rolling past through the machine, dusting lightly to avoid it sticking, and reduce the thickness setting after a few rolls (one setting at a time), until it's at the 2nd thinnest setting, and pass through twice to finish at that thickness.
- Slice the long pasta sheet into 30cm lengths, trimming the edges, then place on top of each other, dusting with flour in between, then fold over several times to make it shorter for cutting.
- Slice the dough into 2.5cm wide strips, then carefully unravel the pasta strips. Repeat with the remaining dough portion.
Finish and serve
When the ragu is finished, transfer 4 portions worth (approximately 2 cups) to a deep saucepan and place over low heat.
- Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water for 2½ - 3 minutes, keeping the water at a boil. Transfer to the ragu saucepan and toss to combine well, until all the pasta has gripped the sauce.
- Plate and serve immediately.
Recipe notes
Origins
Originating in Tuscany, Pappadelle al Cinghiale developed from the ancient hunting traditions of wild boar, which were in abundance in that region. Classified as peasant food, it combines local ingredients slow cooked with freshly made pasta to create a hearty meal. Unfortunately we don’t have an abundance of wild boar locally here, so our version takes the pork shoulder to come as close as we can to the original.
Cook support
Don’t feel like you need to tackle this all at once. Marinate the meat the night before, make the ragu in the morning or afternoon, then cook the pasta fresh when you’re ready to serve. It’s a perfect dish for weekends or special occasions.
Pasta
Resting the pasta dough is crucial as it helps relax the gluten, so it rolls out easier and gives the final pasta a better texture.
Dust lightly with flour as you go, but only just enough to stop sticking. Too much flour and the dough will dry or go tough once cooked.
Substitutions
Guanciale is available at delis and quality green grocers. If you cannot find guanciale then substitute with pancetta or speck.
Storage
This recipe makes more ragu than you need for one meal. Ragu can be stored in an airtight container refrigerated for up to 5 days or frozen for several months. The pasta should be cooked straight after rolling.
Serving ideas
You could add a light side salad to accompany this meal, but keep it simple.
Method
If you don’t have a pasta machine, then the pasta dough can be rolled out by hand with a rolling pin then cut to shape.
