Fusili Con Buco with Veal Ragu

I ripped this off from a restaurant in Brooklyn, and I’m not sure how they prepared it, but with a little tinkering, I think I ended up with something even better. This dish was once featured prominently in the rotation, although I do admit that these days I’m not eating veal for moral reasons. I had never heard about cooking milk in a ragu this way, but it just happened and it worked, so I assume there’s some basis for it. Essentially what I believe is happening here is that you cook the milk at a high temperature so the whey boils off and you are left with only the curds, then you reincorporate the curds into a chicken stock. Since milk fat exists in emulsion when it’s in its raw form, perhaps you’re simply replacing the whey with chicken stock, which, when you consider the gelatinous elements that are present in the stock and absent in whey, is an intriguing proposition. The resultant sauce clings to clumps of meat, making each little morsel frightfully succulent. Everything gets coated in the end, but the sauce itself, if judged to be a liquid, no matter how thin or thick, is almost difficult to detect.

I suppose you could make this with cream instead of milk, but the result would be a completely different dish. It would lose the delicacy and unique character of the sauce with milk, and would be too heavy. I do not recommend it; but if you must do it, reverse the order of the milk and stock – add the cream second. But seriously, try this with milk and you will be amazed.

I believe that the amount of chicken stock indicated here is correct, even though it might seem strange to add a large amount and immediately boil it all off. The reason: there is a great difference in concentration and therefore intensity between 12 ounces of stock that is reduced to 2 and 4 oz of stock that is also reduced to 2.

It can work with any pasta, I’m sure, but in my mind, despite the photo that drew you here, there is only fusili con buco.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground veal
• 2 TBS olive oil
• 1 TBS each fresh oregano and time, minced and mixed together
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 large shallot
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 cup milk
• 1.5 cups chicken stock
• 2 oz butter
• 2 oz parmiggiano reggiano
• 1 TBS fresh parsley, minced
• Salt and pepper
• 16 oz fusili con buco

Directions:

Begin by mincing the garlic and shallot very fine. Place a large sauté pan on the fire, add the olive oil, and get it very hot. Add the veal, breaking it into the pan with your fingers in evenly distributed large clumps. Salt and pepper it, then let it sit for 60 seconds without touching it. Then begin to break it up with a spatula or wooden spoon, tossing so it cooks evenly. When it is just cooked through but the pan is still juicy, add the shallots, garlic, oregano, thyme, and red pepper flakes, and a little more salt and pepper.

Cook through (until the shallot has no crunch), then add the milk. It will come to a boil quite rapidly; stir to thoroughly distribute and let it boil. After a short time, you will notice that it has stopped boiling and there are small curds clinging to the lumps of meat. When the whey has completely boiled off, add the chicken stock. Stir vigorously to combine and keep at a rapid boil. When it has boiled off to about 2/3rds of its original volume (about 15 minutes), add the butter and the cheese, again stirring vigorously to combine. As always, you want to incorporate the fats so they are held in an emulsion, rather then letting them separate, as they will do if left untouched or if cooked at too low a temperature (the rapid boil will do most of the work of incorporating the milk fats).

While all this is going on, put a large pot of water on to boil. Salt it when it comes up and add the pasta when the sauce is close to done. This is a more forgiving sauce than the chicken stock-butter emulsions listed here and here, and you can hold it or reconstitute it if necessary. You don’t want the sauce to get too low – add some of the pasta’s cooking liquid if it seems to get too dry.

When the pasta is done, drain it and add the parsley to the sauce, stirring once. Add the pasta to the sauce, toss, and serve, of course, with cheese.