Best 5 Neopolitan Style Ragu Recipes

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## **Neopolitan-Style Ragù: A Culinary Journey through Naples' Rich Traditions**

As the heart of southern Italy's culinary heritage, Naples boasts a diverse range of delectable dishes, and among them, the Neopolitan-style ragù stands out as a true masterpiece. This hearty and flavorful sauce captures the essence of Neapolitan cuisine, embodying the region's passion for bold flavors and fresh ingredients. Join us on a culinary journey through the streets of Naples, where the aroma of simmering tomatoes, sautéed meats, and aromatic herbs fills the air, enticing food enthusiasts from far and wide. Discover the secrets behind this beloved sauce, and learn to recreate it in your own kitchen with our collection of authentic Neopolitan-style ragù recipes. From the classic meat-based ragù to lighter seafood variations and even a vegetarian twist, our recipes offer a taste of Naples' rich culinary traditions, guaranteed to transport your taste buds to the heart of this vibrant city.

Check out the recipes below so you can choose the best recipe for yourself!

NEAPOLITAN RAGU



Neapolitan Ragu image

Provided by Tyler Florence

Categories     main-dish

Time 3h25m

Yield 8 servings

Number Of Ingredients 30

Extra-virgin olive oil
8 Ultimate Meatballs, recipe follows
2 tablespoons kosher salt, plus more for seasoning
1 tablespoon black peppercorns, plus freshly ground black pepper for seasoning
2 tablespoons fennel seeds
1 rack 8 pork spare ribs, cut into 2 to 3-rib pieces
1 (2 pound) boneless pork shoulder, cut into 2 pieces (so it cooks at the same time as the ribs/meatballs)
4 sprigs fresh thyme
4 sprigs fresh oregano
4 medium carrots, roughly chopped
1 large onion, roughly chopped
2 ribs celery, roughly chopped
2 cups dry red wine
3 (28-ounce) cans tomatoes (recommended: San Marzano)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 pounds spaghetti, cooked al dente in salted water
1 cup roughly chopped raisins
1 cup toasted pine nuts, roughly chopped
1 cup roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 small to medium onion, chopped
2 small garlic cloves, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
3 thick slices firm white bread, crust removed, cut into cubes (about 2 cups)
3/4 cup milk
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
1 1/2 pounds ground pork
1 large egg
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, plus more for serving
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Steps:

  • Heat the oven to 350 degrees F.
  • Set a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add a 3-count of olive oil and gently brown the meatballs. Meanwhile, with a mortar and pestle, grind the salt, black peppercorns and fennel seeds with some olive oil into a grainy paste. Rub the ribs and shoulder with the mixture.
  • Remove the meatballs with a slotted spoon and set aside on a paper towel-lined plate to drain. In the same pot, brown the shoulder pieces and ribs, in batches. Alternately to save time, roast the ribs in a preheated 500 degree F oven for 10 to 15 minutes while you brown the shoulder pieces in the pot.
  • Remove the shoulder pieces and ribs to the meatball plate and let rest.
  • Add a little more olive oil to the pot and add the thyme, oregano, carrots, onion and celery. Stir it around and scrape up the bits from the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon. Cook the vegetables until they are slightly softened and have some nice color. Add the wine, tomatoes and tomato paste and mix well, scraping up any brown bits on the bottom. Nestle the pork shoulder pieces back into the middle of the pot then arrange the ribs around the sauce. Finish by placing the meatballs in the gaps (some of the pieces will be sticking out from the sauce but that's perfectly fine as it will roast and caramelize). Use a spoon to baste everything well, cover, then put the pot into the oven and roast until the pork is tender and the meat is just falling off the rib bones, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
  • For the topping: Combine the chopped raisins, toasted pine nuts and parsley in a small bowl.
  • Use a slotted spoon to remove the meatballs and ribs to a large platter. Remove the pork shoulder pieces from the pot and allow to rest for 10 minutes before slicing into bite-size pieces and adding them to the platter. Puree the sauce in a food processor then add it back to the pot and set over medium heat. Reduce the sauce until it is rich and thick, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, if needed. When the spaghetti is cooked, drain and add to a medium bowl. Spoon a little sauce over the spaghetti and the remaining sauce over the platter of meat. Garnish the meat platter with the raisin mixture and serve.
  • Heat 3 tablespoons oil in an ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, and parsley and cook until the vegetables are soft but not colored, about 10 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and let the mixture cool.
  • Add the bread to a medium bowl and pour in the milk. Let the bread soak while the onions are cooling. Combine the meats in a large bowl. Add the egg and cheese and season generously with salt and pepper. Use your hands to squeeze the excess milk out of the bread and add it to the bowl along with the cooled onion mixture. Gently combine all the ingredients with your hands until just mixed together. Don't overwork the mixture or the meatballs will be tough. Divide the mixture into 8 equal pieces and shape them into 8 nice looking meatballs. Refrigerate until ready to cook.

RAGú NAPOLETANO (NEAPOLITAN-STYLE ITALIAN MEAT SAUCE WITH PORK, BEEF, AND SAUSAGE) RECIPE



Ragú Napoletano (Neapolitan-Style Italian Meat Sauce with Pork, Beef, and Sausage) Recipe image

If you were to pick a president and el tigre numero uno of the ragù world, it'd be ragù Napoletano, a meaty stew with big chunks of beef, pork, and sausages simmered until fall-apart tender in a rich tomato sauce flavored with wine, onions, garlic, basil, and plenty of good Southern Italian olive oil. It's the precursor to Italian-American Sunday gravy: just add some meatballs, serve it with spaghetti, and you're there. It's also the perfect dish for a lazy Sunday with family or friends at home.

Provided by J. Kenji López-Alt

Categories     Mains     Sausage     Soups and Stews     Sauce

Time 4h

Yield 10

Number Of Ingredients 15

3 pounds pork spare ribs (about 1/3 large rack), cut into three chunks
2 pounds beef chuck, cut into 2-inch strips
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 large onion, finely chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
8 medium cloves garlic, finely minced , divided
1/2 teaspoon dried red chili flakes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 cups dry red wine
2 (28-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes, preferably D.O.P. San Marzano, crushed by hand in a large bowl
1 (2- to 3-inch) Parmesan rind (optional)
1 bunch fresh basil
1 pound mild sausage, in the casings (see note)
1 tablespoon Asian fish sauce
8 to 10 servings fresh or dried pasta
Grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

Steps:

  • To serve, cook pasta in a pot of boiling salted water until just shy of al dente (about 1 minute for fresh pasta or 1 minute short of recommended cooking time for dried pasta). Drain, reserving about 1 cup of starchy pasta water. Return pasta to the pot you just cooked it in and add half of ragù, half of pasta cooking water, and a handful of grated cheese. Cook over high eat, stirring until the sauce emulsifies with the pasta water and clings to the pasta, adding more pasta water if necessary. Serve immediately, passing additional sauce, cheese, and remaining fresh basil at the table.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 882 kcal, Carbohydrate 52 g, Cholesterol 179 mg, Fiber 4 g, Protein 54 g, SaturatedFat 14 g, Sodium 583 mg, Sugar 7 g, Fat 50 g, ServingSize Serves 8 to 10, UnsaturatedFat 0 g

NEAPOLITAN STYLE RAGU



Neapolitan Style Ragu image

Make and share this Neapolitan Style Ragu recipe from Food.com.

Provided by saucedandfound

Categories     European

Time 2h

Yield 8 serving(s)

Number Of Ingredients 14

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
ground black pepper
1 lb beef stew meat (such as beef chuck, cut into 1-inch cubes)
3 ounces diced pancetta, guanciale (cured pork belly, cured pork jowl) or 3 ounces bacon, if you must
2 finely diced shallots or 1 finely diced vidalia onion
1 finely minced garlic clove
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1 cup red wine
2 (8 ounce) cans peeled whole tomatoes (preferably San Marzano, but any kind that are not pre-seasoned or fire roasted are suitable)
1 tablespoon oregano
1 bay leaf
1 lb penne rigate (preferably de cecco brand)
parmigiano-reggiano cheese or grana padano, which is less expensive but similar in texture and flavor

Steps:

  • Heat olive oil in a large 6qt heavy bottomed sauté pan (make sure you have a tight fitting lid for later or worst case scenario, be prepared to later cover your pan tightly with foil) over medium-high heat.
  • Pat the meat dry with paper towels to remove any moisture. Season the meat with salt and ground pepper and brown both sides in your heated pan. When the meat hits the pan it should sizzle. If it does not sizzle, it means your pan is not hot enough. Alternatively, if your pan is too hot, the olive oil will start smoking and, then well, you can start a nice little kitchen fire. Just keep the pan on medium/high heat, throw in one cube of beef as a test and if it makes a friendly but not aggressive sizzle, add the rest of your beef. The beef should fit in one layer with plenty of space in your pan. Based on the size of your pan, you may need to brown the meat in two sets. If your meat is over crowded it will steam and not brown which is no good for this sauce. (If you want to know why from a more authoritative scientific source than me, go look up Harold McGee + Maillard Reaction.).
  • Once you have browned all of your beef, remove and place in shallow bowl so as to collect accumulated juices. Turn the heat slightly down to medium and add diced pork to the pan, allowing it to render fat but not brown (about three minutes).
  • Add diced onion to pork, coat in fat and cook until translucent, but not brown, (about three to five minutes depending on how finely you have diced your onion). Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon to prevent browning.
  • Once the onion is translucent and NOT one moment before, add the garlic. If you add the garlic too soon it will quickly burn and ruin your entire sauce. If there is one way to ruin a meal and simultaneously piss off the entire country of Italy, it is too serve sauce with burnt garlic. Stir the garlic in the pork/onion mixture for about 60 seconds. If the garlic is starting to turn golden, add the wine, like, NOW!
  • Now that you have a mixture of fat, onion and garlic in your skillet, you have what is called a soffritto in Italian. Slowly add the wine to your soffritto. Deglaze the pan by stirring with a wooden spoon to release all the brown bits that are probably sticking to it by now. The wine should reduce by one half.
  • When your wine is finished reducing, return the beef and its accumulated juices to the pan and add the whole tomatoes and their juices.
  • Add the oregano, bay leaf (and if you have it, the outer rind of parmesan cheese), stir the beef to coat with sauce mixture and bring to a boil.
  • Once you have brought your ragù to a boil, lower the heat to a faint simmer, cover and cook for three hours. Ever so occasionally stir the sauce with a wooden spoon and break down the whole tomatoes as you stir. If you find that your ragù is drying out a bit you can add ½ cup of cold water and stir to incorporate. (NOTE: if you want to make this sauce in a slow cooker you can prepare through this step and then put in the slow cooker according to manufacturer instructions: generally on low setting for six hours and high setting for three hours. Don't worry about stirring throughout braising process with this method but make sure to break up the tomatoes when the sauce is done slow cooking).
  • When your ragù has simmered for about three hours, it's time to bring your pasta water to a rolling boil. Add salt to the boiling pasta water. For most Italians, the rule of thumb is 1 liter of water for every 100 grams of pasta, and add to that 10 grams of salt (known as the 1000/ 100/ 10 ratio of water/pasta/salt). If you want to actually measure out your water, salt and pasta go for it. I just bring a lot of water to boil, add a generous amount of salt and test to see if the water tastes brackish.
  • Once the salted pasta water is boiling viciously, add the penne, stir with fork so they don't stick together and cook to al dente (usually about ten minutes for penne, and you can always taste the pasta if you are unsure). Do not be tempted to add olive oil to your boiling water. It will create an oil slick that will prevent the ragù from adhering to the pasta. You only add olive oil to fresh pasta, which is more delicate and has a tendency to clump together without the aid of olive oil.
  • When penne is cooked to al dente, drain it immediately and reserve about five tablespoons of pasta water.
  • Uncover your ragù, remove the bay leaf/ parmesan rind. Now add the drained penne and the reserved pasta water immediately (do not allow the pasta to rest and thusly become flaccid in a colander).
  • Raise the heat to medium high and stir with a wooden spoon to coat penne with sauce. If you are dexterous in the wrist, instead of stirring the pasta to coat you can flip it in the pan (this is the preferred Neapolitan method). Stir and cook for about one minute. This step of mixing the pasta and ragù is critical as it coats the pasta with the sauce and creates a unified dish.
  • Plate your penne ragù (I prefer using a shallow bowl), add a few gratings of Parmesan to taste, basil garnish and serve warm with bread.

NEAPOLITAN MEAT SAUCE - RAGU NAPOLETANO ALLA ANNA GALASSO



Neapolitan Meat Sauce - Ragu Napoletano Alla Anna Galasso image

From: Ciao Italia Pronto by Mary Ann Esposito ---------- "A typical Neapolitan ragu is a meat sauce made with beef or pork or a combination of both that is cooked slowly with tomatoes. This was the sauce that simmered for hours on the back burner in a large pot on Sunday morning while the family went to mass. Upon returning home, the smell of it permeated the house, and we could hardly wait to have that plate of macaroni mixed with a sauce that was so flavorful and sweet tasting that we wiped our plates clean with a slice of bread to mop up an left behind driblets. This is a great do-ahead sauce. It can be made 4-5 days ahead, and it can also be frozen for months. This is my grandmother Anna Galasso's recipe, the one she carried with her in her head all the way from Avellino, Italy to her new home in America". Saving Time, use a food processor to mince and chop the vegetables. To save time, make this sauce on the weekend, and freeze some for future use. Use a food processor to mince and chop the vegetables. NOTE: The sauce (with the meat) can be frozen in batches for future use for lasagne, pasta dishes, with vegetables such as green beans, zucchini, and eggplant, and over pizza.----------For those of you that don't know Maryanne Esposito, let me introduce you to a marvelous cook, who cooks only "Authentic" Italian food, and it is incredible! I had the priviledge of meeting Maryanne at a woman's luncheon many years ago, and she has her own cooking show on Channel 11 in NH. She and her husband, who is a local doctor, live in the next town from where I used to live and work.

Provided by Lindas Busy Kitchen

Categories     Sauces

Time 2h25m

Yield 8 cups

Number Of Ingredients 16

1 1/2 lbs top round steaks, cut 1/8-inch thick
salt and pepper, to taste
1/3 cup flat leaf parsley, minced
1/4 cup pecorino cheese, grated
4 meaty spareribs, on the bone
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (Colavita)
1 onion, coarsely chopped
1 celery rib, coarsely chopped
1 large carrot, coarsely chopped
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 bunch basil leaves, stemmed, and torn into pieces
3 (28 ounce) cans crushed plum tomatoes
1/2 cup dry red wine or 1/2 cup white wine
1 tablespoon kosher salt
ground black pepper
1 tablespoon sugar

Steps:

  • Dry the round steak with paper towels, and rub it on both sides with salt and pepper.
  • Sprinkle the meat with the parsley and cheese.
  • Roll the meat up like a jellyroll, and tie it in several places with kitchen string.
  • Salt and pepper the spare ribs. Set the meats aside.
  • Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large heavy duty pot. Over medium heat, brown the round steak and spare ribs in the oil on all sides. This will take about 5 minutes.
  • Stir in the onion, celery and carrot and continue cooking until the vegetables begin to soften. Stir in the garlic and basil. Cook 1 minute.
  • Combine the tomatoes and wine in a bowl. Slowly pour the mixture over the meat.
  • Stir in the tablespoon of salt, a grinding of pepper, and the sugar.
  • Cover the pot, bring the sauce to a boil, then lower the heat to simmer, and cook the sauce until the meat is fork tender, about 1 1/2 hours.
  • Remove the meat to a dish. Cover the dish, and refrigerate the meat to make it easier to cut when cold.
  • When ready to use, transfer the round steak to a cutting board, and cut the strings from the round steak with a kitchen scissors.
  • Cut into neat slices about 1/4-1/2" thick.
  • Add to the sauce. Cut the meat off the bones of the spareribs and add the pieces to the sauce.
  • Use the sauce for pasta dishes both boiled and baked.

RAGU NAPOLETANO (NEAPOLITAN MEAT SAUCE)



Ragu Napoletano (Neapolitan Meat Sauce) image

A Mario Batali recipe, to accompany 'Timpano di Maccheroni (the Mythic Pasta Dome)', recipe #85372. When making this, I ended up with ground chuck instead of the regular boneless. I opted not to remove this from the recipe, nor the sausage, which I crumbled. They gave it a nice texture, so just go with whatever you are able to get.

Provided by skat5762

Categories     Sauces

Time 33m

Yield 3 quarts

Number Of Ingredients 10

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 lb boneless veal shoulder, cut into chunks
1/2 lb boneless beef chuck, cut into chunks
kosher salt
fresh ground black pepper
1 onion, finely chopped
3/4 cup dry red wine
2 (28 ounce) cans peeled plum tomatoes, with juice,passed through a food mill
1/2 lb italian sweet sausage (I used hot)
1 pinch hot red pepper flakes

Steps:

  • In a large pasta pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil until smoking.
  • Season the veal and beef with salt and pepper to taste and sear 5 or 6 pieces at a time over medium heat, until dark golden brown.
  • Remove to a plate and repeat with remaining meat chunks (if using ground chuck, be sure to drain any excess grease from pan).
  • Add the onion to the pan and sauté, scraping the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen any brown bits.
  • Cook until the onions are golden brown and very soft, about 10 minutes.
  • Add the wine, browned meat chunks, tomatoes, sausages, and pepper flakes and bring to a boil.
  • Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook 2 ½-3 hours, stirring occasionally and skimming off the fat as necessary.
  • Remove from the heat and remove meat and sausages from sauce.
  • Cover well and save for another meal.
  • Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper and allow to cool.

Tips:

  • When choosing your meat, look for a combination of ground beef, pork, and veal. This will give your ragu a rich and flavorful taste.
  • Don't overcrowd the pan when browning the meat. This will cause the meat to steam rather than brown, and it will also make it more difficult to remove the excess fat.
  • Be patient when simmering the ragu. The longer you simmer it, the more flavorful it will be. Aim for at least 2 hours, but you can simmer it for up to 4 hours if you have the time.
  • Add a splash of red wine to the ragu for a richer flavor. If you don't have red wine on hand, you can use beef broth or water instead.
  • Serve the ragu over your favorite pasta, such as spaghetti, tagliatelle, or penne.

Conclusion:

Neopolitan-style ragu is a delicious and hearty dish that is perfect for a special occasion or a weeknight meal. With its rich and flavorful sauce, tender meat, and perfectly cooked pasta, this dish is sure to please everyone at the table. So next time you're looking for a new and exciting pasta dish to try, give Neopolitan-style ragu a try. You won't be disappointed!

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