An important part of Hatch is sharing a meal. Here is a recipe for Ragu.

Ending each of our programmes is a celebration event, where we share our experiences and present a plan for the future.

An important part of our celebration is sharing a meal. We package and deliver little parcels to each of the participants, with delicious food prepared by the chefs of Italian restaurant Toscanini.

We invite you to try to make part of the package, Toscanini’s famous ragu sauce, yourself.

Leonardo:

'If my father had made the sauce the night before, he would have made an omelette for breakfast in the morning, cut it into bars and then sprinkled the ragù with Parmesan cheese. When the ragù rose, my brothers and I would walk past it, armed with a white butter sandwich that we dipped in the sauce unseen, ostensibly to check if it was all right.

Ragu

You can't possibly make this sauce for just 6 people, it's too much work for that. Make a large batch and freeze it in portions; it is always very easy to make pasta into a delicious meal.

We offer two versions: a traditional recipe, where all vegetables and meats are cut by hand, and a modern, fast one, where the vegetables are chopped in the food processor and 2 to 3 types of ready-made mince meat are used. Try them both to see if you can taste the difference!

For the soffritto:

2 white onions

1 large carrot

4 celery sticks

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped (optional)

2 bunch flat-leaf parsley

Finely chopped leftovers of prosciutto or pancetta

1 dl white wine (dry)

1 dl stock or water

can of tomato puree

5 cans of pomodori pelati (400 g),

drained and roughly chopped

2 funghi porcini stock cubes (opt.)

4 bay leaves

¼ teaspoon nutmeg

pepper

Salt

For the traditional version take different types of meat, in total about 1 1/2 to 2 kg:

1/2 kg pork shoulder, diced and sliced

1/2 kg veal, e.g. neck, chopped

1/2 kg stewing beef, chopped

2 rabbit shoulders, left whole

2 pork sausages (without fennel seeds or other spices), skinned and cut into pieces

250 g chicken livers, cut into 3 pieces

For the quick version use coarse ground beef.

Have the butcher make this, and ask him for coarsely turned minced pork, beef and veal

Instructions

Sauté the vegetables and prosciutto or pancetta in olive oil until translucent and fragrant. Add the meat and cook well. Deglaze with white wine when the meat starts to brown nicely, and let it evaporate.

Now add the rest of the ingredients and stir well. Let it simmer gently for at least 2 hours. If you used rabbit shoulders, now remove them from the pan, remove the bones and return the meat to the sauce.

Continue to taste as the sauce simmers.