After the war, once meat was available, Annunziata and most of the mothers in Naples made this Neapolitan ragu nearly every Sunday. It is best prepared the day before you need it.
Macaroni con ragu alla Napoletana
Ingredients
8 thin slices of beef
Sea salt
Black pepper
Flat leaf parsley
3 garlic cloves
Toasted pine nuts
8 thin slices smoked pancetta
Extra virgin olive oil
1-2 dried chillies
1 large onion
125ml dry white wine
3x 450g tins San Marzano tomatoes
Bay leaf
Fresh basil
Parmigiano
Method
Take the slices of beef and lay them on a chopping board. Flatten them with a rolling pin. Season well with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Add some chopped flat leaf parsley, some finely chopped garlic and a sprinkling of toasted pine nuts. Cover with a thin slice of smoked pancetta.
Roll each into a cigar shape and secure with some string, or a toothpick.
Warm about 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil in a wide saucepan and add the braciole, browning them on all sides. Set them aside.
Make a soffrito:
In the same saucepan add enough extra virgin oil to cover the bottom. Sauté 2 chopped garlic cloves and one or two dried pepperoncini crushed to flavour the oil. Add a large onion, finely chopped, and allow to cook slowly until it is soft and translucent.
Raise the heat and add a glass of dry white wine, boiling until the alcohol evaporates.
Add the tins of San Marzano tomatoes, liquidised. Add a fresh bay leaf and the braciole and any juices that have collected.
Bring to a simmer and slowly cook on a gentle heat with the lid half off for 2 – 3 hours.
Season with sea salt and black pepper and add a bunch of fresh basil to lift the flavour of the ragu.
Serve with macaroni such as mezze rigatoni or penne rigate. Add plenty of grated Parmigiano. Serve the meat in the middle of the table with a large dressed salad and a plate of sautéed greens
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here