Ragu Napoletano (Neapolitan Red Sauce)

Summary

Yield12
Source

A Napoli Si Mangia Cosi, by Vittorio Gleijeses

Prep Time6 hours
Stabile PagesFood

Description

A thick hearty meat and tomato based sauce. Good for spaghetti, penne, ziti, ecc.

Ingredients

  • 1 kg beef rump roast
  • 1⁄4 l olive oil
  • 6 onions
  • 750 ml red wine (merlot, pinot noir, chianti)
  • 600 g tomato paste

Instructions

  • Finely chop the onions.
  • Brown the meat in a bit of olive oil.
  • Once the meat is browned, add the onions and saute along with the meat.
  • Add a bit of wine every so often to keep things from burning and to de-glaze the pan. If you run out of wine, start using water instead.
  • Once the the onions have disintegrated, you can start incorporating the tomato paste into the sauce 100-200g at a time. Add wine or water along the way to facilitate incorporation.
  • Once you've finished adding the tomato paste, season sauce with some salt and pepper.
  • Simmer sauce lightly and stir occasionally until the meat separates easily from the bone and can be cut with a fork.
  • Remove meat and set aside for a "secondo piatto" (usually accompanied with salad).
  • Let the sauce "rest" overnight, and simmer lightly for a couple of hours the next day.
  • Serve hot over pasta, garnished with grated parmigiano and crusty bread.

Notes

Warning: This recipe could take longer than the quoted six hours. Please review before making any commitments.

This is very loosely based on the recipe from Vittorio Gleijeses' book "A Napoli Si Mangia Cosi" ("This is how we eat in Naples").

I've successfully used country ribs and shoulder for this recipe, too. The original recipe calls for you to wrap eye of round in bacon and to use some pork shoulder, too. But I thought that was way too complicated.