Quick Lamb Ragu with Pappardelle
Ragu can be a meal that takes hours to braise, but every once in a while, I want the ragu on a Tuesday night at 7 and I don't have 4 hours to wait for the meat to cook. This is a 1 hour lamb ragu, perfect when you'd like some ragu but without the time commitment.
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 655kcal
Cost: $20
Equipment
- 1 large saucepan
- 1 4-6 qt pot
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground lamb
- 1 lb pappardelle or mafalde
- 1 cup red wine
- ¼ cup chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup pecorino romano
- 5 tablespoon tomato paste
- 6-8 mushrooms, chopped
- ½ onion, minced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tablespoon butter
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ¾ cup pasta water
Instructions
- In a large saucepan, add 1 tablespoon olive and bring to medium heat. Once the oil is shimmering add lamb in pieces. Let it cook undisturbed for 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle with salt. Break apart the lamb with a wooden spoon into tiny pieces until the lamb is browned. Remove from the pan, set aside.
- Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and the onions. Saute until soft, for about 5 minutes. Then add the mushrooms in and saute for another 5 minutes until mushrooms soften. Stir in the garlic. Let the garlic saute for 1 minute.
- Add the tomato paste and combine everything and let the tomato paste caramelize on the pan for 3 minutes. Then add the red wine and chicken broth. Bring to a simmer and then add the lamb back in. Simmer for 30 minutes.
- In the meantime, bring a pot of water to a boil and boil your pasta. When the pasta is just about finished, add about ¾ cup of pasta water to the sauce.
- Add the butter and pecorino romano and stir until well combined. Drain the pasta and add to the pan with the sauce. Stir to combine. Add extra pecorino romano and serve!
Notes
- Sear the lamb. When you add the lamb to the sauce pan, cook it undisturbed for a few minutes so that it develops a slight crust before you begin breaking it apart. This willadd flavor to the pan and give you a better texture on the lamb.
- Tomato paste needs caramelization. When you add it to the pan, let it sit for a few minutes before adding in the red wine. It's okay if it looks like it's getting stuck to the pan. The red wine will deglaze and grab all that flavor stuck to the pan.
- Save pasta water to add to the sauce. While you're boiling the pasta, save a cup of pasta water and add it to the sauce before the pasta finishes cooking.
Nutrition
Calories: 655kcal | Carbohydrates: 62g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 30g | Saturated Fat: 13g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 13g | Trans Fat: 0.2g | Cholesterol: 75mg | Sodium: 657mg | Potassium: 568mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 356IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 87mg | Iron: 3mg
