Naples is in what is still a poor part of Italy, and meat doesn’t play a huge role in its traditional cookery, said Tom Parker Bowles. But this slow-cooked ragù, which I’ve adapted from Arthur Schwartz’s “Naples at Table”, is a masterpiece – the pride of every Sunday lunch. And it will taste even better after reading “Naples ’44”, Norman Lewis’ magnificent memoir about the time he spent in this most magical and seductive of cities, as a young intelligence officer.
Ingredients (serves 6-8)
- 1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 250g rindless pork belly, cut into large chunks
- 250g stewing veal
- 250g beef shin, cut into chunks
- 2 onions, finely chopped
- 1⁄2 bottle (37.5cl) of punchy red wine
- 3 x 400g cans of chopped tomatoes
- big pinch of sea salt
- big pinch of dried chilli flakes
- handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
- cooked fusilli or spaghetti, to serve
Method
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a large heavy pot over a medium-high heat and brown all the meat, in separate batches, until well browned – around 5 minutes for each batch. Start with the pork belly as it will release some fat, but add more oil if the meat starts to stick.
- After removing the final batch of meat, tip the onions into the pan and cook over a low heat for about 10 minutes, until soft, stirring and scraping up the crisped bits of meat stuck on the bottom of the pan.
- Return all the meat to the pan, add the wine and reduce over a high heat.
- Add the tomatoes, salt and chilli and simmer very gently for 3-4 hours. Stir every 15 minutes or so, skimming off any excess fat. You may need to add a little water, 100ml at a time, if the sauce begins to stick in the last couple of hours.
- The Neapolitans would remove the meat and serve the sauce with pasta to start, then serve the meat separately for a next course. But I like it all together. Scatter on the parsley and serve with a pile of cooked fusilli, spaghetti or pasta of your choice.
- Tip: when making a ragù the Neapolitan way, “you must stay with it, guide it, caress it for hours, so that the aromas of its various components can be released and mingle with each other,” writes Jeanne Caròla Francesconi in “La Cucina Napoletana”.
Taken from “Let’s Eat Meat: Recipes for prime cuts, cheap bits and glorious scraps” by Tom Parker Bowles.
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