Neapolitan ragù: the recipe for perfectly preparing a classic of Neapolitan cuisine

The Neapolitan ragù it is a typical recipe of Neapolitan culinary tradition made for us by chef Raffaele Cardillo: it is tomato sauce with chopped meat, cooked over low heat for about 7 hours. In Naples they say that ragù must “to peep”, an onomatopoeic term to indicate that it must simmer imperceptibly, and takes inspiration from pipe smoking: to ensure that the bowl of the pipe does not go out, in fact, you need to inhale the tobacco very slowly. The secret of the ragù is right there Slow cookingso that the sauce absorbs the flavor of the meat, making it very soft.

Neapolitan ragù is a classic preparation for Sunday lunch, a recipe to be prepared with a lot of dedication, as it requires a long time. The ingredients used are simple: onion, garlic, tomato puree and paste, beef and pork, extra virgin olive oil, red wine, salt and pepper. The types of meat may vary: in our preparation we used white steak, ribs, pork tracchie and gurnard, chops, although the ingredients may vary from neighborhood to neighborhood. Here are the steps to make Neapolitan ragù to perfection.

How to prepare Neapolitan ragù

Fry garlic and onion in extra virgin olive oil.

Add the meat starting from the pork and let it cook for a few minutes. Then add the beef and finish with the chop.

Let it brown over a very low heat, turning the meat frequently.

This phase is very long: the meat must cook for a couple of hours

Raise the heat slightly and add the red wine: let it evaporate slightly.

Now add half tomato puree and half tomato paste.

Let the concentrate fry: it must melt in the oil but not burn, when melted add another couple of spoons and so on, until it finishes. Add all the tomato puree, a little salt, the basil and a ladle of water.

Leave to cook for an hour on a low heat and cover with the lid. Let it “peep” for at least an hour and a half.

At this point you can remove the meat. Let it cook until the sauce appears thick, shiny and very dark. Preparation takes at least 7 hours excluding cooking the pasta.

In our recipe we used the ragù to season the ziti, which will be broken up and cooked in boiling, salted water for about 10 minutes.

Drain the pasta al dente and season it with the ragù and add plenty of grated parmesan and ground pepper.

Advice

Be careful: pork ribs cook first so you have to remove them from cooking and usually at this stage they have finished cooking. Remove them from the heat.

When you add the water for the pasta, place all the meat in the pan and let it cook over medium heat to let it heat up again.

You can store the Neapolitan ragù in the refrigerator for up to 3 days, in an airtight glass container.