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Wednesday Dinner: Smoked Pork Ragù

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9260326395_c4f0416438_oOver the past couple years, I’ve played around with making stock from the bones of various meats I’ve smoked. The results have always been intriguing. Deep smokey undertones layered on top of the base protein and the aromatics. I used the smoked stock to make soups and sauces – pan sauces for a seared steak, a smoked tomato broth that went over ravioli, and into a super intense french onion soup preparation.

Over the 4th of July weekend I smoked a couple of large chicken, and a whole 10 lb picnic shoulder. Our guests pretty much devoured both. The smoked chicken remnants will go toward a smoked chicken salad, and the carcasses will go into the freezer for a future batch of smoked chicken phở or ramen broth. But the leftover bones and some skin from the smoked pork shoulder (which was just salted and basted with a little Eastern NC style sauce as it smoked) went into a big stockpot with a quartered onion, a carrot, a celery rib, and a small handful of peppercorns. It simmered for about 4 hours before being strained. The result was three quarts of a heady stock with a huge smoke flavor and a lot of that delicious rich collagen texture that makes pork bone stocks so awesome.

Some of that stock went into the freezer for later – but most of it made its way into a rich smokey tomato heavy beef ragù that ended up plated with penne rigate. Next time around I’d probably use a ground pork in place of the beef, but the end result was stunningly delicious.

Smoked Pork Broth Ragù

1 quart smoked pork stock
1 large can whole plum tomatoes
1/2 lbs ground pork or beef
2 large cloves garlic
1 small handful of fresh basil
1 small handful of fresh oregano
1 tsp dried red chili flakes
salt to taste

Add all ingredients except the ground meat to a large pot and simmer until tomato breaks down. Crush tomatoes and garlic with a potato masher or whisk. Raise heat and reduce until approximately 1/3 of original volume, . In a separate pan, brown the meat and incorporate into sauce. Simmer 30 minutes or more. Cook hearty pasta al dente (remove 1-2 minutes before it would be done according to package instructions). Ladle sauce and drained pasta into a separate pan and simmer with a small quantity of pasta water until pasta is tender, and sauce evenly coats the pasta.

To serve: Ladle into a warm pasta bowl and top with shaved Parmesan, and a nice piece of grilled bread.

 

 



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