As published in “Coastal Scene”, issue dated 1st March 2013
Our man at the stove Patrick Skinner doesn’t mince words, he prefers pork and beef
The horse meat scare is still on and more badburgers are found daily, so it does seem good sense to buy meat from a source you can trust. If you know your local butcher, you can either buy his mince, or you can ask him to mince your chosen meat for you. Or, as I do, you can grind it in your my food processor.
Several readers have asked me for a recipe for a meat sauce to go with pasta, and another one Emailed: “You mentioned your meatball recipe was Swedish and good, so how about it?”
I am happy to oblige everyone.
Ragú
This is one of the world’s classics. Mince. But doesn’t Ragu alla Bolognese sound better? There are probably as many recipes for this as there are Italian Mamas and Chefs in Italian kitchens. This is one based on the recipe in a little Soho Italian spaghetti bar of the 1950’s (Two Shillings a plate). As an impecunious young film publicist, it was home for me at lunch-hour about three times a week. It was one of the first Espresso bars in London, run by a chap called Claude Barnett and his wife, who, it was said had won £75,000 on Vernons Pools (a great deal of money then) with which they had set up the coffee bar, where Mrs Barnett cooked Spaghetti Bolognese and Spaghetti Napoli (tomato sauce) every day. There were two notices, both salutary on the wall behind where a rather po-faced Claude presided over the Espresso machine. The first read: "In God we trust, others pay cash". The second: "If you’re so clever, why aren’t you rich?”
Ingredients
450g / 1 lb minced beef (or a mixture of beef and pork)
2 medium onions and 1-2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 stick celery
1 medium carrot, and a handful of dried or non-wet fresh mushrooms, finely chopped in a food processor
2 large tomatoes, skinned and chopped (if you prefer use a 400g can of Italian tomatoes (Cirio is a very good brand)
Pinch of dried thyme, sage and 1 bay leaf
25 cl / 8 fl oz of red wine
Salt and Pepper
3 tbsp of olive oil
Method
1. Into a heavy, large saucepan, put the olive oil and heat until it’s
moving about and looking hot.
2. Put chopped onions and garlic into the pan and cook
quickly, stirring frequently, until edges start to brown – a
couple of minutes.
3. Add ground meat and continue cooking on high heat, stirring a
lot until meat starts to brown.
4. Add minced celery/carrot/mushroom mixture, the herbs and the bay leaf, turn heat to medium and cook 5-10 minutes stirring regularly.
5. Put in the chopped tomatoes, stir briskly and add the wine.
6. Put lid on pan and cook on low heat. After 15 minutes or so,
check liquid level. A drop more wine, or water, may be needed.
7. Simmer slowly for an hour or so, checking from time to time and looking at liquid level, till it looks right, smells right and tastes right.
Like every basic recipe, people all over the world vary the ingredients. Some add some chicken livers, bacon or ham, to the meat mixture. Others (like me) like to have a good vegetable content. But whatever you do, you have the basic sauce for any boiled pasta, for lasagne, risotto and a host of other meals. One thing I do regard as essential: a good olive oil for the cooking. Fat, butter or light oils just won’t do.
Ragu freezes perfectly. Once a month, I make up a large potful and decant it into 8 – 12 two-portion terra cotta pots and then freeze it. Once a week, or so, when we’re too tired to cook or even go out, out comes a pot, on goes the pasta and Presto! a meal. A little salad on the side, a good glass of red, and some smoked fish to start, what better?
Wine Match
CHIANTI – wine region of Tuscany in central Italy, home to many Brits. Used to be pretty rough when it was the IN wine of countless Italian Trattorias, served up in straw covered flasks. Much more sophisticated and pricey today (like £8.00 to well over £20). Even at the lower end it’s a well bodied, slurpy red with plenty of fruit and bite to go with the meat sauce. Today you can’t really go wrong with Chianti or Chianti Classico.
Meatballs
My first taste of this recipe was in the Cyprus home of Swedish friends, made by grandma who was 86 at the time. I have no reason to change anything in it. For me it’s what a meat ball is all about.
Ingredients for 6 – 8 servings
60g/2oz fine dry breadcrumbs
125ml/4fl.oz light cream
125ml/4fl.oz water
200g/7oz of quite finely minced lean beef
200g/7oz of quite finely minced lean pork
1½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground allspice
1 small to medium onion peeled and very finely chopped
1 egg, beaten
75g/3oz butter
A few grindings of black pepper
Method
1 In a bowl mix together the breadcrumbs, cream and water. Set aside.
2 In a large bowl, mix together the beef, pork, salt, allspice, pepper and onion
3 Add the breadcrumbs and mix well and then the egg
4 Shape into balls: around 12 large ones or between 25 and 30 small ones
5 Heat the butter in a heavy non-stick frying pan and when the foam subsides cook the meatballs a batch at a time
6 Turn regularly to make sure the meatballs are brown all round – for around 12 to 15 minutes for large meatballs and 8 to 10 minutes for smaller ones
Serving Suggestions….
- With spaghetti and tomato (“Napolitana”) sauce
- With a mixed salad and some yogurt
- With a mushroom sauce and some sauté potatoes
- With a nice sloshy vegetable risotto
