Ragu of Oxtail & Pork Belly, Rigatoni, Pecorino

I've been cooking a lot of pasta recently, perhaps due to the winter blues. It is after all a wonderful comfort food. Our local organic supermarket sells one of the best brands of dried pasta I have tried - La Terra e il Cielo (http://www.laterraeilcielo.it). It's pricey, but what Italian would begrudge a few extra pounds for quality (I'm not Italian by the way!).

In past blogs I have waxed lyrical about the merits of a slow cooker and once again it is put to good use here to effortlessly knock up this superior ragu. Speak to your mum or granny, she is sure to have a slow cooker gathering dust in the back of the cupboard - go and nick it. Long slow cooking is the way forwards with this dish - 8 hours or more. Chuck everything in the pot, set the slow cooker running in the morning or overnight and Bob's your Uncle. Will easily feed 6 to 8.

Ingredients:

Oxtail cut from the thick end - 500g

Pork Belly - in one piece - 300g

Chuck steak in one piece - 300g

A little olive oil

1 medium onion, peeler and finely chopped

Carrots - 2 large, peeled and split down the middle

Celery - 2 sticks, finely chopped

Garlic - 4 fat cloves, peeled

Passata - 500ml

A glass of bog standard red wine

Rosemary - 1 large sprig

Thyme - 3 bushy sprigs

Bay leaves - 2

Parsley - 1 large handful of leaves

Pecorino - 100g

Method:

There are two ways to proceed, the proper way or the quick way. Both will result in a fantastic ragu but browning the meat and vegetables does add a extra depth of flavour - your call.

Have a look at the chuck steak, trim off any visible sinew (fat is fine) and cut into chunks in such a way that when the meat is tender and shreds down, you are not left with very long  strands of meat. Cut across the grain to ensure the resulting strands are less than an inch long. De-rind the pork belly and cut into chunks the same as the beef. Trim the oxtails of any huge lumps of fat and skin but don't go mad....the slow cooking will melt most of it away, you are just trying to reduce the oil content in the finished stew.

Season the meat well and then brown in a little olive oil in a searing hot pan. You may need to cook the meat in batches. Transfer the meat to the bowl of the slow cooker and then fry off the vegetables until they have taken on some colour. Add those to the slow cooker bowl. Deglaze the pan with the wine, scrapping any residue off the base - loads of flavour in those little caramelised bits. Reduce the wine by half and then chuck that into the slow cooker along with everything else except the pecorino and parsley.  If you don't have the time or inclination to brown everything - just chuck the lot into the slow cooker skipping all of the above!

Season the contents of the slow cooker well, lid on and set the machine to low. Simmer for 8 hours or more - you can't really overcook this dish. The dish is done when the oxtail bones can be lifted from the mix clean - the meat should just fall away. Allow the ragu to cool then by hand, pick through the sauce removing any bones, the herb stalks, the bay leaves and any fatty nasty bits. Shred the meat and squish the vegetables as you go. Mix well and taste  for seasoning. 

Cook your pasta. Blitz the pecorino in a food processor to get that 'nibbled' appearance. Warm the ragu and throw in the finely chopped parsley at the end. Toss the pasta through the sauce adding a little pasta water if the end result looks too dry. Finish with the pecorino.

Milk Poached Smoked Haddock, Parsley Sauce

I was feeling a little under the weather this week, a bit tired; sleep deprived even; malnourished most likely. I needed something soothing, something my Mum or Gran would cook a poorly child. 

There is no easy way to make poached haddock and parsley sauce sexy. It's merits lie within, an unconventional beauty. A bit like the 'girl next door'.......you don't fancy her until your paths have crossed a few times.  Smokey haddock, parsley, buttery mash, irony greens, an almost bland white sauce....it's all there flavour wise.......just remember to look beyond the 'boat race'.

Ingredients:

Full fat milk - 1/2 pint

Plain Flour - 1 heaped tbsp

Butter - 1 heaped tbsp

Onion - 1/2, peeled and roughly sliced

Clove - 1

Lightly cracked black pepper corns - 10

Bay leaves - 2, scrunched up

Parsley - A big handful once picked and chopped.

Naturally smoked and undyed haddock - 2x200g portions taken from the loin.

Method:

First infuse the milk with the onion, clove, pepper and bay leaves. Put in a suitable pan and bring to just under the boil. Take off the heat and allow to infuse for 20 mins. Pass the milk through a sieve saving the milk, discard the rest. Return the milk to the pan and add the haddock portions - no need to season as smoked fish is usually cured and therefore salty enough. Cover the fish with a circle of baking parchment and bring the milk back to the simmer. The baking parchment ensures the fish cooks evenly by holding the steam in. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the fish to gently cook in the residual heat of the milk - this should take approx 10 mins. Gently remove the fish and keep warm.

Melt the butter in a small cup in the microwave. When melted, add the flour and stir in until all the lumps have gone - this buttery mush is called a 'beurre manié' in the trade. Bring the milk back to the simmer for the last time and add the beurre manié whisking the sauce to incorporate. The sauce should thicken almost immediately but you need to simmer for another minute or so to cook out the flour. Check the seasoning of the sauce, remove from the heat and whisk in the finely chopped parsley leaves. Serve immediately with buttery mash and green vegetables of your choice.

Spaghetti with Purple Sprouting, Chilli, Pinenuts & Basil

Purple sprouting broccoli is one of those early vegetables that signifies Spring is around the corner. Although in season, you may find it a little hard to find at the moment as my veg-man says the cold wet weather has been playing havoc with supplies. I managed to get some though so not that hard to find!

This pasta dish may sound unusual but really is just a twist on a classic Italian dish from Puglia where Orecchiette pasta (it's just one of the myriad of shapes) is combined with turnip tops and chilli. So, so, so easy to make, it is just an assemble job really. For two:

Ingredients:

Good quality spaghetti - 120g

Purple sprouting - 200g prep'd weight

Big fat red chillis - 4, deseeded

Garlic - 2 fat cloves, peeled and finely chopped

Butter - 50g

Parmesan shavings - 50g

Pinenuts - 50g

Lemon juice - a good squeeze

Basil - 1 large bunch, leaves removed from stems, stems discarded

Method:

Toast the pine nuts & cook the linguine as per the packet instructions. Drain the pasta and reserve the water. Bring the water back to the boil and quickly blanch the purple sprouting. In another large saucepan, melt the butter and gently fry the garlic and chilli for a minute or two. Toss in the pasta, pine nuts, half the parmesan, half a ladle full of the pasta water, the lemon juice and the basil. Season and warm through to wilt the basil. Drain the purple sprouting and toss into the pasta. Taste and adjust the seasoning and lemon juice. Plate in large bowls and top with the remainder of the parmesan.