Rich lamb and pork ragu
Serves: 8-10
Prep time: 40 mins Total time: 
Recipe photograph by Kris Kirkham
Rich lamb and pork ragu
Recipe by Neil Rankin
An indulgent ragu tossed through papardelle or on a bed of soft polenta, topped with the blue cheese and polenta nuggets
Serves: 8-10
Prep time: 40 mins Total time: 
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Nutritional information (Ragu only)
Calories
686Kcal
Fat
48gr
Saturates
17gr
Carbs
8gr
Sugars
7gr
Fibre
2gr
Protein
48gr
Salt
2gr
Neil Rankin
Neil is a Scottish chef who began his career in fine-dining restaurants before falling in love with the dirtier side of cooking – smoking and barbecuing. After stints at meat-centric London restaurants including Smokehouse, Pitt Cue Co and Jamie Oliver’s Barbecoa, he opened Temper restaurant in 2016 and now has three in the capital.
See more of Neil Rankin’s recipes
Neil Rankin
Neil is a Scottish chef who began his career in fine-dining restaurants before falling in love with the dirtier side of cooking – smoking and barbecuing. After stints at meat-centric London restaurants including Smokehouse, Pitt Cue Co and Jamie Oliver’s Barbecoa, he opened Temper restaurant in 2016 and now has three in the capital.
See more of Neil Rankin’s recipes
Ingredients
- about 6 tbsp olive oil
- 1kg minced pork
- 1kg minced lamb
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 10g anchovies in oil, drained
- ½ tsp cracked black pepper
- 1 stick of celery, diced finely
- 200g carrots, diced finely
- 1 onion, diced finely
- 3 bay leaves
- 3 tbsp tomato purée
- 250ml red wine
- 500g passata
- 500ml chicken stock
- 2-3 tbsp Thai fish sauce
- 1-2 tbsp caster sugar
To serve, optional
- 400ml chicken stock
- 150g polenta
- 40g Parmesan cheese, grated finely
- 150g creamy blue cheese, crumbled
Step by step
Get ahead
The ragu keeps for up to 3 days in the fridge or freezes well.
- Pour a little olive oil into a large frying pan or casserole and fry both types of mince in batches, adding more oil as necessary, until brown, then set aside. Fry the garlic, anchovies and black pepper in 1 tablespoon of oil until aromatic, then add the celery, carrots, onion and bay leaves and fry until the veg are softening, about 10 minutes.
- Stir in the tomato purée and cook for 1 minute, then add the meat back in, plus the wine. Cook until the wine has almost evaporated, then mix in the passata and stock. Simmer for about 1 hour, uncovered, adding a little more water if needed. The ragu is ready when the oil starts to separate out from the sauce. Season with salt, pepper, fish sauce and sugar.
- If making the polenta nuggets, bring the stock to the boil in a large pan, then slowly add the polenta while whisking. Stir until thickened. Add the Parmesan and pour into a dish to cool. Once cool, pick off small pieces and fry at 180°C in a deep-fat fryer, or shallow fry until crispy.
- Serve the ragu, tossed through papardelle or on a bed of soft polenta, topped with the blue cheese and polenta nuggets.
