Whatever tradition you’re observing, it’s safe to say the holiday season is undeniably in full swing! As the colorful string lights outside get brighter and brighter, the days get colder and colder, and the nights get darker and darker, it only means one thing: the food gets heartier and heartier. Bring on the chunky soups, all the casserole dishes imaginable, and the lively, boozy desserts designed to lift up your spirits!
Here I have a pork ragu recipe that is slow-cooked and packed with flavor. Choosing a Duroc Heritage pork tenderloin for this ragu sauce ensures that the meat stays tender and juicy after an hour of stewing in a soffritto-enriched tomato sauce. Italian soffritto differs from Latin-Caribbean sofrito, not only in the spelling of the word, but also in the ingredients used. This soffritto consists of finely minced carrots, celery, onions, and garlic, giving the crushed tomatoes a balanced backbone of flavor. This ragu goes especially well with tagliatelle or pappardelle pasta, but to shake things up, I chose mafalde pasta to kick off the holidays. Mafalde pasta is a pasta shape that resembles thin stretches of lasagna with its curly edges and ribbon-like texture, and holds up really well against thick, meat-based sauces. So, as holiday parties ramp up and shopping lists get longer, fueling up with delicious carbs like this pasta dish is key to sustaining your energy. There is an upside to the madness!
Mafalde with Duroc Heritage Pork Ragu
Yields 4 servings
Ingredients:
1.5 pounds Duroc Heritage pork tenderloin, silver skin removed, fat trimmed, cut into small pieces
Salt & pepper, to taste
Red chili flakes, to taste
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 carrot, finely minced
2 stalks celery, finely minced
½ onion, finely minced
3 tbsp garlic, finely minced
2 tbsp tomato paste
1-28 oz can crushed tomatoes with basil
1 cup chicken stock
1 lb Mafalde pasta (follow cooking time on package)
4 tbsp parmesan, plus extra for garnish
Salt & pepper, to taste
Instructions:
Season pork with salt, pepper, and red chili flakes. Keep in the fridge until ready to use.
In a deep-set skillet, cook the soffritto (carrot, celery, onion, garlic) in olive oil for 20 minutes on medium to medium-low heat, stirring every 4 to 5 minutes.
Add tomato paste, let cook in a small area in the pan (make space for it) for 2 minutes until it reaches a rusty color, then mix into the soffritto and cook for another minute, stirring continuously.
Add the pork, cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. In the meantime, heat up 1 cup of chicken stock on the side.
Add the can of crushed tomatoes to the pork and soffritto. Stir thoroughly, cover, and let cook for 2 minutes.
Add the chicken stock. Stir thoroughly. When the sauce starts to simmer, turn the heat to low and cook covered for 1 hour, stirring every 10 to 15 minutes.
In the meantime, bring cold, salted water to a boil. Use a stock pot large enough to boil 1 pound of pasta.
When the water is at a rapid boil, add the pasta and set your timer to the cooking time instructed on the pasta package, subtracted by 2 minutes. Halfway through cooking time, reserve 2 cups of hot pasta water in a measuring cup.
When the timer goes off for the pasta, turn the heat up to the ragu sauce and strain the mafalde pasta.
Add the cooked Mafalde pasta and the parmesan to the ragu sauce and stir thoroughly but gently so that no sauce spills over. Add the hot pasta water and stir. Set your timer for 2 minutes to finish cooking the mafalde pasta al dente in the ragu sauce, stirring thoroughly but gently so that you don’t break the pasta. Taste the sauce and adjust with salt & pepper, if necessary. Serve immediately. Garnish each plate with parmesan. Enjoy!