Wild Boar Ragu
Serve with 2021 Oakville Cabernet Sauvignon
Serves 4
- 1 1/2 pounds wild boar shoulder, cut into 1-inch chunks (don’t trim off fat – it adds to the richness and flavor of the ragu)
- Diamond Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, peeled and diced
- 1 large carrot, peeled and diced
- 1 large rib celery, diced
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
- 1/3 cup red wine
- 28 ounces crushed tomato
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 ½ cup high quality chicken stock
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 dried bay leaf
- Pinch of red pepper flake
- Serve on tagliatelle or pappardelle with lots fresh parmesan and flat leaf parsley
- Season boar chunks with 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt and a few generous grinds of black pepper. Set aside while you prep your other ingredients.
- Heat a medium Dutch Oven to medium heat. Add butter and oil to the pan and sauté onion, carrot, celery, and rosemary with a generous pinch of salt. When onions are translucent and veggies are just-tender, remove them from the Dutch Oven and set aside.
- Place Dutch Oven back on the stovetop and turn flame up to medium-high heat. Brown boar chunks on all side. (Note: If your boar pieces don’t have much fat, you should do the browning in 1 tablespoon olive oil. ) Set browned meat aside on a plate or platter.
- Keeping the Dutch Oven over medium-high heat, add 1/3 cup red wine to the pan, turn up flame so the wine simmers as you deglaze the pan and reduce the wine to half. Then return veggies to the pot, add crushed tomato, tomato paste, 1 1/2 cups chicken stock, garlic, red pepper flake and bay leaf into the sauce – taste for seasoning – adding salt as desired.
- Nestle boar chunks into the sauce and gently simmer over low heat, pot partially covered, for 3 hours, stirring occasionally, until boar is tender and sauce is rich and flavorful. Taste for seasoning and add additional salt and black pepper as desired.
- Ragu can be made up to 3 days ahead – the flavors only deepen over time. (And leftovers freeze beautifully.)
- Serve ragu scooped on a bed of fresh tagliatelle or pappardelle. Top with freshly microplaned parmesan and finely chopped parsley.