Venison and wild pork team up in a pasta dish just right to use up your excess meat reserves.
These days, it seems time is something we all have too little of. However, when it comes to cooking a great meal, there are instances where the final result is directly related to the time spent preparing it. And besides, time flies when you’re having fun—or thinking about the meal ahead!
If you’re French, a slow-cooked stew of meat and vegetables is a ragout. Here, in the New World, led astray by the name of a commercial spaghetti sauce, it’s ragu. In either instance, this version is worth the effort.
I’m not a hunter of anything bigger than an Osceola turkey, but I’m lucky to be on the receiving end of meat gifts from my hog and deer hunting buddies. And when my freezer starts to overflow with packages of ground venison and wild pork, I start thinking “ragu.”
You need to set aside an afternoon to make a proper ragu. The cutting, chopping and browning don’t take long, nor does it take lots of specialized kitchen equipment. A large covered skillet and a pot to boil a couple of quarts of water will do. If you’re cooking tonight’s dinner, start at noon. Another option is to cook the sauce, hold on preparing the pasta, and chill in the fridge or freeze for later….
