Ingredients
1.6kg lamb shoulder piece, boned, cut into 5cm chunks
Sea-salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper, to season
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
6 eschalots, sliced thickly in rounds
2 carrots, peeled, diced into 5mm pieces
1 celery heart, finely diced
6 cloves garlic, finely sliced
2 Tbsp dried oregano
6-8 sprigs sage
1 fresh bay leaf
300ml dry white wine
1.5L chicken stock
¼ radicchio, finely sliced
500g egg noodle pappardelle, cooked according to packet directions
Pecorino cheese, to serve
Method
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Put a large heavy-based saucepan over high heat. Season lamb and toss in olive oil. Cook lamb in batches until well browned - make sure you don't overcrowd the pan. Remove from pan and set aside.
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Add eschalot, carrot, celery and garlic and cook for about 10 minutes or until vegetables start to caramelise. Add oregano, sage and bay leaf. Return lamb to saucepan. Pour in wine to deglaze pan, then simmer gently on low heat until liquid has reduced by half.
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Add chicken stock and simmer for 2 hours or until meat is tender and liquid is quite reduced (by about two-thirds). Stir through radicchio and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
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Plate pappardelle, then spoon over ragu. Grate over pecorino, drizzle with extra olive oil and serve (if not serving straight away, don't cook pasta and refrigerate or freeze ragu).
COOK'S TIPS
- The large chunks of lamb in this dish make for a really hearty and filling meal. They also allow you to get good colour on the meat when browning, which makes the ragu extra intense while the lamb becomes tender and luscious.
- You need fat on the meat, but if the fat is really thick, trim some off.
- If you can't find pappardelle pasta, which is very thick ribbons, use tagliatelle instead.
