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Cavatelli con ragu' di maiale

Cavatelli con Ragu di Maiale

A recipe for a delicious meat sauce and a tutorial on how to make Cavatelli.
Course Main
Cuisine Italian
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours
Servings 4
Author Manuela Zangara

Ingredients

  • 1 batch of Cavatelli
  • 300 gms – 10.5 oz. pork schnitzels
  • 300 gms – 10.5 oz. Italian sausage pure pork
  • 300 gms – 10.5 oz. pork spare ribs trimmed
  • 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • ½ onion
  • 1 garlic clove chopped
  • 1 dried red chilli or ½ tsp chilli flakes
  • 1 lt – ¼ gallon tomato purée passata
  • 250 ml – 1 cup water
  • Salt & Pepper to taste
  • 1 ½ tbsp parsley chopped
  • Pecorino Romano thinly grated to serve

Instructions

  1. Put the chopped clove of garlic and 1 tbsp of the chopped parsley on the pork schnitelz. Roll them like a big involtino and secure them with some cooking string. These are known as “braciole”. Keep them aside.
  2. Now, heat up the extra virgin olive oil in a pot. Add the half onion, pork spare ribs and sausages and sauté for a few minutes on a high flame to sear the meat. Now add the chilli, tomato passata and water and bring to a boil. At this point, add the braciole, salt and pepper. Cover and let it cook on a low flame for at least 1 hour. The more the sauce cooks, the tastier it will be… but check and stir it regularly and add some more water if required.
  3. When ready, remove the meat and keep it aside.
  4. Cook the Cavatelli following the steps on “How to cook pasta “al dente”. Only in this you will not have a pre set cooking time. The time will vary based on the thickness of your pasta and on whether you have left them to dry etc. So, the best solution is to taste it! Remember, it does have to remain firm.
  5. When the pasta is cooked, drain it, put it in a frying pan and add the pork sauce to it. Sauté it on a medium flame for a minute.
  6. Serve it hot with a generous sprinkle of Pecorino Romano and the remaining chopped parsley.

Recipe Notes

You can chop some piece of the cooked meat and serve them with the pasta. I especially like eating it with the sausage! You can have the remaining meat as a second or another meal altogether.