The Literate Chef

Posts Tagged ‘chianti’

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Wild Boar Ragu

In Pasta, Pork, Recipes, Sauces on October 21, 2017 at 10:37 AM

Preparation time: Marinate-Overnight; Cutting & Chopping-1 hour; Cook Time 4 hours. Serves 6 – Adapted from NY Times and Epicurious Magazine

Wild Boar Ragu with Fettucine

Wild Boar Ragu with Fettuccine

Step 1: Marinate the Meat Overnight

Ingredients for Marinated Meat:

  • 2 lbs. Wild Boar Shoulder, cubed 1 inch pieces
  • 2 tbsps. whole peppercorns
  • 2 sprigs of rosemary
  • 8 cloves garlic, halved
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 3 or more cups of Chianti, enough to cover the meat

    Mix the above in a non-reactive bowl, cover with plastic wrap and marinate in the refrigerator overnight. When ready to make the Ragu, discard the rosemary, garlic and bay leaves. Drain the meat in a strainer over a bowl, and reserve the marinade.

Step 2: Make the Ragu

Ingredients for Ragu:

  • Meat & reserved marinade from Step 1
  • 6 tbsps. extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium sized onion, chopped fine
  • 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped fine
  • 2 stalks celery, chopped fine
  • 2 cans of tomatoes, chopped and use liquid
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 8 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 tbsp. red pepper flakes
  • 2 tbsps. anchovy paste
  • 1 tbsp. chopped fresh oregano
  • 1 tbsp. chopped fresh sage
  • 2 tbsp. chopped fresh basil
  • 3 or more cups of low-sodium vegetable broth

Procedure:

  1. In a heavy casserole pot, heat the olive oil on medium.
  2. Add onions, carrots and celery and lightly sauté for about 5 minutes, remove and set aside.
  3. In two or more batches, add the Wild Boar Meat, brown on all sides turning frequently for about 15 minutes, until all liquid is absorbed.
  4. Add back the vegetables from step 2.
  5. Add the marinade and bring to a boil.
  6. Add the tomatoes, bay leaves, garlic, red pepper flakes, anchovy paste and chopped herbs.
  7. Turn heat to medium low, and cook uncovered for at least 4 hours, until meat easily fall apart. (Note: Stir the ragu periodically and add 1 cup of vegetable broth at a time to prevent the ragu from burning. You may need to use a whole quart. You can also cover the ragu for the last 30 minutes so it doesn’t burn. (Note: Most of the liquid should be absorbed.)
  8. Remove bay leaves and discard. At this point the ragu is done and can be used immediately or frozen in small batches and used later. There should be enough for 6 meals, or a meal for 2 on 3 separate occasions.
  9. Serve with choice of pasta; Pappardelle, Tagliatelle or Fettuccine. (Note: Heat the ragu & cook the pasta separately for 2 minutes short of al dente, remove 1 to 2 cups of pasta water, add to ragu and mix well, remove the pasta from the water, add to the ragu, mix well again for about two minutes.)
  10. Serve with chopped basil and grated Pecorino Romano, preferably Locatelli brand.

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Grandma Loved Ceci Beans

In General Articles on October 23, 2011 at 6:09 PM

Grandma, who crossed the Atlantic 101 years ago on the Principe di Piemonte, with three children aged 7 and younger, loved ceci beans (chech-ee), which are also known as chick peas and garbanzo beans. As a callow youth with an unsophisticated palate, I hated them. To me, they were mealy and dry and I never tasted them again until about 10 years ago, when I had a ceci-based soup at a restaurant in Vagliagli, in the Chianti district of Tuscany.  After that, I began to appreciate their texture, flavor and adaptability to a variety of uses. One such use is in Garbanzo Bean Soup.

Recently, I had occasion to have lunch with some friends at the Indian Road Café, in my old neighborhood of Inwood in northern Manhattan.  I ordered a delicious shrimp sandwich, which came with a side salad of chick peas dressed with pesto. Having some pesto sauce remaining from the batch of Uncle Fred’s Homemade Pesto Sauce that I had made several weeks ago, as well as several cans of garbanzos in the pantry, I had an epiphany and headed out to the market to pick up a red onion, cucumber and lemon. The first of two of those items were visible in the salad as well as the chick peas and pesto, but I had no idea about the lemon, it just seemed the right addition.

The serendipitous result was Insalata de Ceci, named in honor of Grandma, who I believe would have loved this dish. The moral of this tale is ‘Listen to your grandma, as she is always right!’