Wild Boar Ragu and Pappardelle

Today we are making a Wild Boar Ragu And Pappardelle. Seven years ago, my wife and I spent a few days in Rome. For dinner one night, we had a wild boar ragu which was completely incredible. I’ve been thinking about doing that ever since. This particular recipe is a mashup between a recipe I worked out last year, Beef Short Rib Ragu (and I need to publish that, also) and some research I did on Tuscan recipes for Boar Ragu. In that research, I found that this is basically the “national dish” of Tuscany and there are dozens of published recipes available in English, but originating in Italy. This recipe from The Pasta Project seemed closest to what I was looking for, so I adapted this and my beef ragu approach to create what you see below.

Normally, in Tuscany, you would not first smoke the boar stew meat, but I liked the idea of adding some depth smoking it first. It isn’t necessary. And, if you can’t find wild boar stew meat easily, you can use pork shoulder. I get my boar meat from Broken Arrow Ranch in Texas. Their prices are reasonable and the shipping is top notch.

Notes For Cooking Boar Ragu

• I used my own beef stock, not something from the store. I should probably publish that recipe, too. Meanwhile, the better quality your beef stock, the better this is going to turn out. Don’t skimp on your ingredients.
• Wine: I used a Super Tuscan from Cooper Winery, which is on Red Mountain in Washington state. But you could do a nice chianti just as well.
• I think using tomatoes and herbs from the garden makes a big difference. If you don’t have a garden, then a farmer’s market is going to give you much better quality and flavor than what you get from standard grocery store stuff. Remember, most herbs in jars at Safeway have been sitting on warehouse shelves for over a year before you ever get to see it in the grocery store.

What To Serve With A Boar Ragu

Serve this with a good Tuscan wine: Chianti or Super Tuscan. Definitely serve over Pappardelle. You can find it in the pasta section of good grocery stores. A salad with a vinaigrette is a good side with this. Fresh grated parmesan is a must.

Special Tools

Smoker or grill of some sort if you plan to smoke the boar. You can skip that step if you like.

Overview

The day before you will cook this, cut the boar into 1″ x 1″ chunks and then liberally sprinkle 1/2 tsp of Morton’s kosher salt on the meat. Put in refrigerator overnight. If you can’t do it overnight, get the meat salted at least one hour prior to cooking. This is called dry brining. It will make a huge difference to your meat’s tenderness and flavor.

About 6 hours before you plan to serve, set up your grill or smoker and smoke the boar meat. Set up your grill or smoker for indirect cooking with the indirect zone between 225 and 250 degrees. Add a handful of wood chips or 1 chunk wood (preferably apple) to your charcoal. When smoke is no longer billowing and white, put the meat on the indirect heat and smoke it for about 45 minutes, until the internal temp of the meat is 145F. Reserve the meat.

While the meat is smoking, prep all your other ingredients (mise en place).

1. Peel the tomatoes
2. Dice the shallot, carrot, celery
3. Crush or mince the garlic
4. Add olive oil to a dutch oven or deep sided, heavy skillet and heat until shimmering over medium heat
5. Add shallot, carrot, celery and cook until shallot is translucent, stirring regularly, about 10 minutes
6. Add garlic and bay leaves and cook for about 1 minute, until garlic is aromatic
7. Now add the meat and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes

Create the Ragu by adding the tomatoes, stock, wine, herbs and salt. Stir together well. Bring to a simmer, cover with a lid that is cracked open. Stir occasionally and add water as needed to keep the Ragu from reducing too much and burning.

When the meat is tender, if the Ragu is too thin, bring to a near boil and reduce a bit until thickened appropriately for your taste. Taste and add salt and pepper if needed. Cover Ragu and hold while cooking the Pappardelle per the package’s directions. Drain Pappardelle and toss with olive oil. If the Ragu is too thick, add a bit of the pasta water.

Serve Ragu over top of the pasta with a glass of wine and some fresh parmesan.

Cooking The Ragu In Pictures

Taste of Tuscany: Boar Ragu

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Recipe by Eric Course: PastaCuisine: ItalianDifficulty: Medium

Servings

4

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

3

hours 

Calories

490

kcal

Smoking Time

45

minutes

Total time

4

hours 

5

minutes

Ingredients

• 1 lb wild boar stew meat (or pork shoulder), cut into 1″ cubes

• 1 medium size shallot, diced

• 1 carrot peeled and diced

• 1 stalk celery, diced

• 2 cloves garlic

• 2 each bay leaves

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 1/2 tsp Morton’s kosher salt

• 1 sprig rosemary

• 5 leaves fresh sage leaves

• 1 lb tomatoes, peeled and cut into 1″ pieces

• 3 cups beef stock

• 1 cup red wine (chianti or super tuscan)

• 1/2 lb Pappardelle

Method

• Trim the stew meat and apply kosher salt to dry brine, at least 1 hour before cooking, but preferably 24 hours ahead, as described above
• Set up grill or smoker for 2 zone cooking and get indirect zone to 250 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Transfer stew meat to indirect zone and smoke until internal temp is 145 degrees Fahrenheit.
• While meat is smoking, prep remainder of ingredients
• Dice carrots, celery, shallot
• Peel and chop tomatoes
• Crush or mince the garlic cloves