Pasta with Braised Lamb Ragu

You need to braise lamb shanks, then pull their meat and use it for this recipe, so see that recipe first. But if you’ve got some of that extra meat, this is an excellent thing to do with it, and it’s much better than using ground lamb. I like spaghetti with this – the most traditional pairing, I believe, is Spaghetti alla Chitarra, but any will do. I believe that the Chitarra aka guitar strings in question, btw, refers to the instrument used to to cut the pasta, not the strands of pasta themselves.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 2 TBS chopped fresh rosemary
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 8 oz (or more) of pulled braised lamb meat
• 4 oz lamb demi-glace (you should have some from the same recipe that gave you the meat – if not, skip it)
• 1 tsp each dried oregano and thyme
• 1 28-oz can ground or pureed tomatoes, or 1 box strained Pomi
• salt and pepper
• 1 box spaghetti
• 2 oz pecorino tuscano, or similar sheep’s milk cheese

Directions:

Begin in the same manner you would many other of these dishes – put a pot of water on to boil and the olive oil in a large sauté pan. Add the onions, garlic, rosemary, slat and pepper, and cook over medium high heat until softened but not overly browned. Add the tomatoes, the lamb, the demi-glace, herbs, red pepper flakes, more salt and pepper, place a splatter screen over the pan and cook at a low simmer for 30 minutes or so. Stir it every once in a while and stir the bottom to make sure the bottom isn’t scorching anywhere.

Add the pasta when the water is boiling and cook, then add to the sauce and toss.

A sheep’s milk cheese is ideal for this dish.