Best Sunday Ragù Recipes

SUNDAY RAGù

Steps:

• Make tomato sauce:
• Pulse tomatoes with juice (1 can at a time) in a blender until almost smooth.
• Heat oil in a wide 10-to 12-quarts heavy pot over medium-high heat until it shimmers, then sauté onion until golden, about 6 minutes. Add garlic and sauté 1 minute.
• Add tomato purée, bay leaf, and 1/2 teaspoon salt and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 40 to 45 minutes. Discard bay leaf.
• Make braciole while sauce simmers:
• Stir together garlic, parsley, cheese, and pancetta.
• Pound top round to 1/8 inch thick between 2 sheets of plastic wrap with a rolling pin or meat pounder. Spoon parsley mixture evenly over beef cutlets (about 3 tablespoons each). Starting with a short side, roll up cutlets and tie at each end with string to make braciole.
• Make meatballs:
• Form reserved meatball mixture into balls (about 16), using a 1/4-cup measure.
• Cook meats:
• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Season braciole with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper (total) and brown well in 2 batches, turning, about 6 minutes per batch. Transfer to a large shallow pan.
• Add 2 tablespoons oil to skillet and brown sausage in 2 batches, turning, about 6 minutes per batch. Transfer to pan with braciole.
• Pat pork shoulder dry and season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add 2 tablespoons oil to skillet and brown pork shoulder all over, about 5 minutes. Transfer to pan.
• Pat pork ribs dry and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil to skillet and brown ribs well in 2 batches, turning, about 6 minutes per batch. Transfer to pan.
• Heat reserved oil from polpette in skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Fry meatballs in 2 batches (do not crowd), turning occasionally, until well browned, about 6 minutes per batch. Transfer to paper towels using a slotted spoon. (Discard oil.)
• Finish ragù:
• Return sauce to a simmer and carefully add all meats and juices. Simmer, partially covered, gently stirring occasionally (do not break up meatballs), until all meats are tender, about 2 1/4 hours.
• Transfer meats with tongs to a large platter. Serve with fettuccine and remaining sauce.

MOM'S SUNDAY DINNER: ITALIAN RAGU WITH MEATBALLS AND ITALIAN SAUSAGE

Steps:

• 1. In a large sauce pot (8-quart size minimum), heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil on a very low flame. Add the diced onion and cook slowly until it has turned translucent. Do not brown the onion, but allow it to almost melt away. Add the garlic cloves and very lightly cook them in the oil until golden before adding the tomatoes and all their juices. Add salt and pepper to taste, and the basil leaves and set the heat on low. Allow the tomatoes to cook at very low heat for at least 2 hours before adding the meat.
• 2. Make the meatballs: mix the ground beef and veal together in a large bowl. Combine the bread and milk and mash together to form a paste; add the bread to the ground meat. Add the eggs, garlic, parsley, cheese, salt, and pepper to the meat mixture and combine all the ingredients using your fingers to mix uniformly, but do not over mix or the meat will dry out when cooked. Pick up 2 tablespoons of the mixture and roll it into a ball shape, between the palms of your hands. Do this until you have used all the meat. This should yield approximately 24 meatballs.
• 3. Place the remaining olive oil in a heavy skillet and heat over medium flame. Add the meatballs in 1 layer and brown on all sides before removing. Do this to the remaining meatballs until all are browned to a caramelized color. After all the meatballs have been browned and removed from the skillet, add the sausage links and brown well, following the same method as the meatballs. When all the meat has cooked, add to the tomato ragu, which has been cooking for 2 hours and cook an additional hour. Serve the tomato ragu over rigatoni pasta cooked to directions on box. Serve the meats on another plate as a second course or with the pasta. (We always couldn't wait til the second course!)
• 4. NOTE: If using plum tomatoes, make sure using a wooden spoon while cooking, you break up the tomatoes. You can also freeze this in batches and use when needed.
• 5. You can make this sauce your own by adding what herbs you like. Oregano or Basil, All Beef Meatballs if you prefer. My mom did all the combinations. MANGIA!

SUNDAY RAGU

Steps:

• Make brasciola: start with slice of cappicola, lay a slice of Parmesan on the cappicola, and follow with garlic and parsley. Roll each pile into cigar-shaped rolls, and hold in place with toothpicks.
• In the bowl of an electric mixer, add ground beef, breadcrumbs, oregano, basil, garlic, salt, pepper, eggs, water and parmesan cheese and mix well. Form the meat mixture into 2-inch balls. Heat a large saute pan. Add enough oil to fry in. Add the balls and fry until evenly browned.
• In a large saute pan, add oil and heat. Fry the sausage until evenly browned.
• In a large saucepan, heat olive oil. Add onion, and saute until golden. Add brasciola rolls, meatballs, sausage, pureed tomatoes and crushed tomatoes. Simmer uncovered for one hour. Remove brasciola, meatballs and sausage and serve separately if desired. Taste ragu, and season with salt and pepper according to preference.

PRESSURE COOKER SUNDAY GRAVY, ITALIAN RAGU SAUCE OVER PASTA RECIPE - (4.2/5)

Steps:

• Notes: I made the meatball mixture, first, since my pressure cooker time was 45 minutes. If using the stove top method, you will have 2-1/2 hours of time to make the meatballs-- which are absolutely delicious on their own! Note: Prosciutto and cheese are added to the meatball mixture to mimic the flavor of the brasciole. Sauce: Pressure cooker method: Do not preheat the oven, as you won't be using it. Using browning cycle, follow steps 1 to 6 (below). Traditional method: Adjust oven rack to lower- middle position and heat oven to 325°F Heat oil in large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Pat ribs dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Add half of ribs to pot and brown on both sides, 5 to 7 minutes total. Transfer ribs to large plate and brown remaining ribs. After transferring second batch of ribs to plate, brown sausages on all sides, 5 to 7 minutes total. Transfer sausages to plate with ribs. Reduce heat to medium, add onions and oregano; cook, stirring occasionally, until beginning to brown, about 5 minutes. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until very dark, about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add crushed tomatoes and broth, scraping up any browned bits. Return ribs and sausage to pot; bring to simmer, cover, and transfer to oven**. Cook until ribs are tender, about 2½ hours**. **Pressure cooker method: Once the meats have been browned, and the sauce made, cover and lock on the pressure cooker lid. Pressure cook on high for 45 minutes. In the meantime, prepare the meatballs. Meatballs: Meanwhile, combine bread cubes, buttermilk, parsley, garlic, egg yolk, salt, and red pepper flakes in medium bowl and mash with fork until no bread chunks remain. Add meatloaf mix, prosciutto, and cheese to bread mixture; mix with hands until thoroughly combined. Divide mixture into 12 pieces; roll into balls, transfer to plate, cover with plastic, and refrigerate until ready to use. When sauce is 30 minutes from being done, heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Cook meatballs: Add meatballs and cook until well browned all over, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer meatballs to paper towel-lined plate to drain briefly. Oven version: Remove sauce from oven and skim fat from top with large spoon. Transfer browned meatballs to sauce and gently submerge. Cover, return pot to oven, and continue cooking until meatballs are just cooked through, about 15 minutes. Pressure cooker version: When the pressure cooker beeps, release the pressure and carefully remove the lid. Skim fat from top with large spoon. Transfer browned meatballs to sauce and gently submerge. Replace the lid, and lock it, and pressure cook for 3 minutes. Release the pressure and carefully remove the lid. Pasta: Meanwhile, bring 6 quarts water to boil in large pot. Add pasta and salt and cook until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup cooking water; drain pasta and transfer back to cooking pot. To serve: Using tongs, transfer meatballs, ribs, and sausage to serving platter and cut sausages in half. Stir basil into sauce and adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. Toss pasta with 1 cup sauce and reserved pasta cooking water so that sauce lightly coats pasta. Serve pasta, passing remaining sauce and meat platter separately.

SUNDAY/ ANY DAY SPAGHETTI #RAGU

Steps:

• In a large pot of salted boiling water, cook spaghetti according to package directions for al dente.
• Cut sausages about ½ inch pieces. In a large skillet on medium heat cook sausage until browned on all sides (3-4 minutes), deglaze pan with wine and let cook a couple of minutes, stir in Ragu® Sauce and simmer for 5-7 minutes.
• In a small fry pan add breadcrumbs and toast on medium low heat for a couple of minutes or until toasted, stirring frequently. Take off the heat add in garlic and parsley and mix together. Set aside.
• In a frying pan with butter, on medium heat, cook eggs to over easy.
• Place cooked and drained spaghetti into pan with Ragu® Sauce and stir to combine, place on serving plate/plates. Top spaghetti with toasted breadcrumbs then eggs. Serve and Enjoy!

RICK'S SUNDAY PORK RAGU

Steps:

• Season the meat with the salt and refrigerate for a few hours. Sear the meat in a heavy bottomed pan with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil. Add the onions and let cook for a few minutes. Add tomato paste and let cook for a few minutes. Deglaze the pan with the wine and simmer for a few more minutes. Add San Marzano tomatoes and break them up with a wooden spoon. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Let simmer very slowly for about 4 hours. Season with salt and pepper to taste.