Main Ingredients:

See below ingredients and instructions of the recipe

Cooking Preparation of the Recipe:

1/2 c Heavy cream
10 oz Salt pork lean; small dice
1 qt ;Water
1 c Carrot; diced (1/8")
2/3 c Celery; diced
1/2 c Onion; diced
1 1/4 lb Skirt steak or chuck blade
-roast; coarsely ground
1/2 c Wine, white, dry
2 tb Tomato paste; diluted in
10 tb Meat or poultry stock
1 c Milk
Salt and pepper; to taste

Cooking the cream: Simmer the cream in a tiny saucepan until reduced
by one-third. There should be about six tablespoons. Set aside.

Blanching the salt pork: Fresh fatback needs no blanching. If you are
using salt pork, boil the water, add the salt pork and cook for three
minutes. Drain and pat dry.

Browning the ragu base: Sauté the salt pork or fatback in a three-to
four-quart heavy sauce pan over medium-low heat. Sauté eight minutes
or until almost all its fat is rendered. Stir in the chopped
vegetables. Sauté for three minutes over medium-low heat, or until
the onion is translucent. Raise the heat to medium and stir in the
beef. Brown five minutes or until the meat is medium brown in color
and almost but not quite crisp.

Take care not to let the meat become overly dry or hard.

Simmering and serving: Stir in the wine and diluted tomato paste and
reduce heat to very low. It is critical that the mixture reduce as
slowly as possible. Cook, partially covered, for two hours. From
time to time, stir in a tablespoon or so of the milk. By the end of
two hours, all the milk should be used up and the ragu should be only
slightly liquid. Stir in the reduced cream. Toss the hot ragu with
freshly cooked pasta and serve.

Makes enough sauce for 1 1/2 pounds of dried pasta. Chicago Tribune
test kitchen notes: "We tried the recipe twice, the second time using
only five ounces of salt pork and found this reduction in fat to be
quite acceptable."

The Splendid Table: Recipes from
Emilia-Romagna, Heartland of
Northern Italian Food
Lynne Rosetto Kasper
per Bill Birner

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