The Orecchiette al Ragù di Braciole is a typical Apulian dish served on Sundays, especially during the colder seasons: while walking through the alleys of the old town centre, you can smell its irresistible fragrance in the air!
The preparation is very easy, but the cooking is quite long: you start from the braciole, which are meat rolls stuffed with parsley, garlic and parmesan cheese, that are cooked in the tomato sauce, so that the sauce itself becomes very flavorful and is used to dress the pasta.
Ingredients (4 people)
- 10 slices of veal meat (or beef meat)
- 2 cloves of garlic
- parsley
- 100 gr grated Parmigiano Reggiano Vacche Rosse (or pecorino cheese)
- salt and pepper
- 60 gr extra-virgin olive oil (Olio Supremo)
- 1 onion
- 1 glass dry white wine
- 500 gr tomato sauce (Salsa di Pomodoro Fiaschietto)
- basil
- 400 gr fresh durum wheat Orecchiette Senatore Cappelli
How to make it
Trim the fat off the slices of veal meat, lay them on the tabletop and, using a meat pounder, pound them until thin, then spread the stuffing on each slice: start from the garlic and parsley finely chopped, add the grated cheese, salt and pepper.
Roll up each slice of meat forming a cylinder, paying attention not to pour the stuffing out, and use toothpicks to pin closed. Place the meat rolls into a pan, together with oil and the chopped onion: cook until they brown.
Simmer with the dry white wine until reduced over moderate heat.
As soon as the wine evaporates, add immediately the tomato sauce and the chopped basil, salt, pepper, and continue cooking for about two hours over a gentle heat, add some water from time to time if the sauce gets too dry and wait until it is reduced to a normal consistency.
Toss the orecchiette with the tomato sauce and serve the rolls as the second course.
Red wine and the scarpetta ( idiomatic Italian expression meaning: mop up the sauce on your plate with bread) with homemade bread are the perfect complements to enjoy this dish.
This post is also available in: FR
