Recipe: Boar Ragu

Here’s one of my favourite recipes for ya - Wild Boar Ragù. If you can’t get hold of boar you can replace it with stewing beef (though bear in mind cooking time may vary). It’s really not difficult at all to pull off and yet holds a rich depth of flavour - give it a go and let me know what you think!

Wild Boar Ragù

Serves: 6
Time: 2 – 2½ hours (only about 30-40 minutes hands-on cooking time)

Ingredients

1kg wild boar meat, cut into fairly small chunks
3 tbsp olive oil
2 onions
2 cloves of garlic
1 glass red wine
2-3 sprigs of rosemary or 1tsp dried
3 tbsp passata or tinned chopped tomatoes
1 litre meat stock
500g pappardelle or tagliatelle

Method

1. Peel and finely chop your onions and garlic. If your butcher hasn't already done it, chop your boar meat into roughly 2cm cubes.

2. Heat the oil in a pan and gently cook the onions and garlic, without browning them, for about five minutes or until soft. Add the boar and cook for five minutes. Then add the red wine and allow it to cook for one minute before adding the rosemary and passata.

3. Add enough stock to cover the meat and bring it to a boil. Reduce the heat to a gentle bubble and cook, partially covered, for an hour and a half to two hours until the meat is tender and falls apart quite easily when cut with a knife. Add more stock to the boar if too much liquid evaporates.

4. About 10 minutes before the boar is cooked, prepare the pasta. Season the ragù and then serve with the pasta.