Pappardelle con Ragù

Our waistlines continue to shrink and I'm at the point where I really want to slow the loss. I was at the grocery store this morning with a plan to make turkey-vegetable soup for dinner, but I felt like we should celebrate a little tonight with a nice meal and a bottle of wine. Nothing was really coming to mind, but when I walked by one of the meat cases, I saw some country-style pork ribs, pork shoulder by any other name, that triggered a memory of ragù, meat sauce.

I thought it would be a wonderful treat on a very cold and rainy (34F and raining is the pits) day to have a warm bowl of pappardelle with meat sauce. And so it was, incredibly delicious, but probably too much quantity and definitely too rich. I made the sauce in a single enameled cast iron cocotte in oven with the whole process taking about 6 hours.

Pappardelle con Ragù

Browning Pork in the Cocotte

Browning the Flip Side

Braised for 2.5 Hours in White Wine and Water

Soffritto Sautéed with Garlic and Basil; Deglazed with White Wine; Meat Added

Tomatoes Added; Ready for Oven

Ragù Ready After Braising for Two Hours

Annie Coloring Outside the Well

Pasta Resting for An Hour

Rolling Out the Dough

Pappardelle Drying Before Cooking

Basic Egg Pasta Dough

Basic egg pasta is simple to make. The following makes plenty for two people.

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 whole large eggs

2 egg yolks

Mix the flour and salt and form a pile with a well in it. Crack the eggs into the well. Add a drizzle of olive oil if you like. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. Beat the eggs in the center of the well and slowly incorporate the flour from the edges of the well until all the flour is incorporated into the dough. Add little dribbles of water if the dough is too stiff. Knead for several minutes until the dough is smooth and evenly colored. Allow the dough to rest, covered, for at least 30 minutes before rolling and cutting.