This recipe from Ferran and Albert Adria comes from Bread is Gold (Hachette NZ RRP$65), a cookbook from Massimo Bottura and his top-chef friends that is dedicated to fighting food waste. All royalties are donated to non-profit organisation Food for Soul to create and sustain community kitchens around the world.
This ragu shows a little of what was cooked at the original Refetterio Ambrosiano – a Milan soup kitchen feeding healthy meals to those in need from excess food from supermarkets and local suppliers.
Ferran served this stew with mashed potato (with lots of butter and parmigiana-reggiano) and green beans. Place a spoonful of the hot ragu in each bowl, top with a spoonful of mashed potato and garnish with cooked green beans. In New Zealand, it may be more economical to replace turkey with chicken and pancetta and speck with bacon. Canned tomatoes instead of fresh in winter.
Ingredients
| 3 Tbsp | Extra virgin olive oil |
| 250 g | Pancetta, chopped (Main) |
| 2 large | Onions, diced |
| 6 | Carrots, diced |
| 1 | Celery stalk, diced |
| 500 g | Turkey breasts, (or use chicken) cut into 3cm chunks (Main) |
| 1 kg | Minced chicken, beef, and veal (mix of) (Main) |
| 250 g | Speck, (or use bacon) chopped (Main) |
| 500 g | Tomatoes, fresh (or use canned ones in winter) (Main) |
| 250 ml | Canned tomatoes, whole, peeled (Main) |
| 5 | Bay leaves |
| 1 sprig | Thyme |
Directions
- In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the pancetta and cook until browned, about 10 minutes.
- Add the onions and saute until translucent, about 10 minutes.
- Add the carrots and celery and saute for another 10 minutes.
- Add the turkey (or chicken) and the minced meat in batches, stirring constantly until browned, about 15 minutes.
- Reduce the heat to low and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes.
- Add the speck (or bacon) and cook until browned, about 15 minutes.
- Add the fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes, bay leaves and thyme and simmer until thick and reduced, about 1½ hours.
- Remove the bay leaves and thyme. Season to taste with salt. Let cool in the saucepan for 2 hours before serving or refrigerating. Reheat over low heat before serving.
