I am so excited about this Braised Pork Ragu Pappardelle pasta recipe. Even though LA is STILL refusing to acknowledge that it’s fall, I don’t care. Cozy and comforting meals are in full affect in my household and I’m really happy about it. ‘Stewy’ type foods are some of my favorite things to eat and today we have a really delicious, but totally simple Braised Pork Ragu Pappardelle! I love this recipe so much because it really is pretty simple, one recipe makes a ton (so it’s great for crowds and awesome to freeze for a later date too!) and to top it off pork shoulder is pretty inexpensive, so buying a couple pounds won’t break the bank!
We’re serving ours over pappardelle, which is one of Jordan’s (the hubs) favorite pastas, but you can serve the ragu over so many different things like creamy polenta, buttery spatzle, over a bed of wilted greens, or just with a big, crusty baguette. Also, I’m really not one of those ‘use expensive wines in cooking’ type of person (sorry, Queen Ina Garten), so much so that while making this in the studio to shoot for the blog the other week, I realized we were totally out of red wine and all we had was an unopened BOX of VERY cheap red wine, leftover from a recent freelance project. I used it and the ragu still came out delicious with tons of flavors that nicely melted together. So long story short, drink your fancy wines and cook with the cheap stuff. :) Enjoy! xx, Jenny
We love this store bough pappardelle pasta from whole foods.
We love pasta recipes! Here are some more recipes you might like
Braised Pork Ragu Pappardelle
INGREDIENTS
- 2 ½ tablespoons vegetable or grapeseed oil, divided
- 2 pounds boneless pork shoulder, fat trimmed
- ½ yellow onion, diced
- 2 carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 celery stalks, trimmed and diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tablespoon minced thyme leaves
- 2 teaspoons minced sage leaves
- 1 teaspoon minced rosemary
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 1 (28 ounce) can whole tomatoes
- salt and pepper to taste
- 24 to 30 ounces dry pappardelle
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 325˚F.
- Place a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cut pork shoulder into four equal pieces and season all over with salt and pepper. Pour 1 tablespoon oil into Dutch oven and sear pork for 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Remove pork from pan and set aside.
- Drain all fat from pot and add remaining oil. Add onion, carrot and celery and sauté for 4 to 5 minutes or until the onions begin to sweat and become slightly translucent. Add garlic and season with salt and pepper. Stir together.
- Add herbs and continue to sauté for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Add tomato paste and stir together. Lightly season with salt and pepper.
- Deglaze pot with wine, making sure to scrape up all the brown bits from the bottom.
- Reduce heat to medium and simmer until about ½ wine has evaporated.
- Add the whole tomatoes, including juices, and stir together, slightly breaking up the tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon.
- Once mixture is simmering again, add pork back into the pot and bring to a boil. Cover pot and place on the lowest shelf in your oven.
- Braise pork for about 2 hours or until the pork is fork tender.
- Remove pot from oven and finely shred pork with two forks. Adjust seasonings if needed. Cover until ready to use.
- Fill a large pot with water and place over high heat.
- Once water is boiling, add a small handful of salt followed by pasta. Boil pasta, stirring frequently, until al dente, 5 to 7 minutes. Drain.
- Divide pasta into individual bowls and top with a large ladle of ragu. Top with freshly grated Parmesan and serve.
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Was delicious. I used country style pork ribs. Fell off the bone after 2 hours. I needed to add water a couple times, it’s really thick.
this is a great recipe overall! i’ve been learning the fundamentals of braising, and this meal is by far the best thing i’ve ever made for myself and my family! thank you so much for this gem!
i have some tips to add for others who are also learning how to braise:
– i was a little confused about the deglazing not occurring immediately after removing the pork from the pot and draining the fat, as is my understanding of when deglazing is supposed to occur. i’m also not sure if that’s a hard rule, so i followed the recipe as written.
– for the deglazing, use the best quality wine you can find within your budget, but try not to stress too much about what to use. white vs. red really comes down to personal preference. braised pork ragu is an Italian-American meal, so it’s more subjective than a traditional Italian dish. if you drink wine, make it a wine you can enjoy with your meal later so it doesn’t go to waste :) i used Overjoy Nebbiolo and it was delightful for the recipe and to drink!
– make sure to understand what deglazing is and how to do it before you start cooking, because that term really denotes a small procedure in and of itself, and it’s one of the single most important parts of the whole process.
– understand that the pork has to reach an internal temp of 195-205 degrees fahrenheit to be shreddable.
– do not remove the pork from the sauce to let it rest! let the pork rest in/with the sauce so the sauce captures all of the juices and gelatin from the meat.
– after resting, shred the pork once the internal temp of the pork is down to the 160s to 170s.
– while shredding the pork, let the liquid part of the sauce simmer on the stovetop to reduce and thicken as desired, and add a small amount of acid to brighten the flavor. make sure you taste the sauce as you go and make only small, incremental changes. once finished put it together and mangia!
This was so good I damn near cried! Only change was the addition of a serrano pepper because I like heat. With definitely be making this again!
Amazing recipe as written but but I’ve added a bit to make it my own. I added some salt pork just before I put in the veggies instead of olive oil, upped the onion a bit to get the mirepoix ratio correct and used a dry white instead of red, and added some bay leaves. Amazing results. Also, be sure to use good San Marzano tomatoes for the best flavor. Will absolutely make this again.
Made with some homemade parpadelle, Phenomenal! Thank you for this, restaurant quality.
We loved this recipe. It’s not bland! It will be a regular at our house.
Great Recipe. I added a half a jar of Peppadew peppers to give it something extra and try to get it close to a dish I love from Ecco in Atlanta Airport. Adding this to my recipe list.
Love the addition of the peppadew peppers! I bet that tasted SO good!
How long should you cook in crock pot?
The grocery store didn’t have boneless pork shoulder so I picked a fatty pork loin and hoped for the best (it worked out great – very tender!). I added paprika to the seasoning which gave it a very pleasant goulash flavor. This was a hit and will become part of our regular rotation. Thank you!
An absolute crowd pleaser! So delicious and easy to make! Highly highly recommend
Im overdue to comment here. Ive made this recipe more times than I can count now and will be making again tonight. It’s my MiL favorite thing that I cook and serves very well for large get togethers or large family dinners(6 in my house) plus some leftovers that get better in coming day or so. It travels well in the dutch oven to a get together and is really hard to mess up.
I always ~double the meat, then double the recipe. Whether I make my own pasta or not comes down to time. I haven’t noticed much of a difference in my choice of red wine, but the quality of whole tomatoes used has a large impact on the resulting flavor, in my opinion. I prefer a good San Marzano whole tomato for best results. Thanks for this, this recipe has fed MANY people in my home and will continue to do so :)
Re-asking a previous question—what’s the best liquid to thin out the ragu. (I left it in the oven a bit longer than 2 hours.)
I would think a bone broth, or any kind for that matter, but a little water wouldn’t reduce the taste on this, either.
Great dinner! I have so much left over though… can you freeze this?
Yes! You can definitely freeze this in an airtight/freezer friendly container (or ziploc) for up to 2 months!