Quick Sausage Ragu with Pasta and Whipped Ricotta
A quick simmered meat sauce with long simmered taste. When the mood for pasta strikes, you don't have to simmer the sauce for hours. Meaty, rich and delicious, this ragu is great with all your favorite pastas.
Yield: 8
Materials
for the Ragu
- 1 ½ cups (180 g) yellow onion, peeled and roughly chopped (1 medium onion)
- 1 cup (150 g) carrots, peeled and roughly chopped (2 medium carrots)
- ¾ cup (74 g) celery, roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced or minced
- 2 filets anchovies (optional)
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 pound (453 g) pork sausages (sweet or spicy), removed from casings
- 28 ounces (795 g) crushed tomatoes, canned (or whole canned tomatoes crushed by hand)
- salt and black pepper, to taste
- 1 pound (454 g) orecchiette pasta (or your favorite shape or pappardelle, tagliatelle, etc)
- parmesan cheese (for garnish)
- chopped parsley (for garnish-optional)
- crushed red pepper flakes (for garnish- optional)
for the Whipped Ricotta
- 2 cups (450 g) ricotta cheese
- 3 tbsp (40 ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tsp salt (or to taste)
- ⅛ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- In a food processor, add the carrot, celery and onion. Pulse several times until everything is finely chopped. Heat a large dutch oven or high-sided skillet over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and the vegetables. Cook, stirring often, for about 5-6 minutes or until mixture is slightly drier and starting to brown lightly. Stir in the garlic, anchovies (if using) and tomato paste. Cook for another minute.
- Add the sausage meat. Cook, breaking up meat, until just starting to brown (5-6 minutes). Add the crushed tomatoes. Fill can about 2/3 full of water, swish to collect all the tomatoes left in the can and add to pan. Season with salt and black pepper. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer and cook for 25-30 minutes until sauce has thickened a bit.
- While sauce is cooking, put a large pot of water on the stove to heat for pasta. In a food processor, add the ricotta cheese, salt and pepper. While machine is running, slowly stream in 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired. Set aside.
- Cook pasta according to package instructions for al dente pasta. Cook pasta 1-2 minutes less than time instructed. Drain, reserving 1-2 cups of the pasta cooking water. With pasta sauce simmering, add the drained pasta. Stir and cook gently for about 1 minute. Add a little pasta cooking water to loosen, if needed.
- To plate: spread about 1/4 cup of the whipped ricotta to a bowl or plate. Spoon pasta over the ricotta. Garnish with parmesan, parsley and red chili flakes, if desired. Serve immediately.
Notes
-if you don't have a food processor, dice the onion, celery and carrot into a small dice. You could also grate the vegetables with a box grater.
-the ricotta can be whipped by hand with a whisk, hand mixer or in a blender.
-turkey or chicken sausages may be substituted for the pork sausages.
-leftover ragu sauce keep very well in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Freeze for up to 3 months.