Ziti al Ragù
Hand-snapped tubular pasta coated in a rich, slow-simmered Neapolitan meat and tomato sauce, traditionally served as a Sunday first course.
- Prep
- 20 min
- Cook
- 240 min
- Total
- 260 min
- Servings
- 4
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Calories
- 680 kcal
Equipment
- •Heavy-bottomed Dutch oven
- •Large pasta pot
- •Colander
- •Wooden spoon
Nutrition
Per serving, approximate
- Calories
- 680 kcal
- fat
- 20 g
- carbs
- 82 g
- fibre
- 5 g
- protein
- 42 g
- calories
- 680 kcal
Instructions
- 1
Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium-high heat.
- 2
Brown the beef chunks and pork ribs thoroughly on all sides until deeply coloured, then remove to a plate.
- 3
Lower the heat, add the sliced onions, and cook gently for ten minutes until soft and translucent.
- 4
Stir in the concentrated tomato paste and fry for two minutes until it darkens in colour.
- 5
Pour in the red wine, scraping up all browned bits from the bottom of the pan until mostly evaporated.
- 6
Return the meat to the pan, then add the crushed plum tomatoes and half the salt.
- 7
Lower the heat to minimum and simmer very gently with the lid slightly ajar for three hours.
- 8
Snap the long ziti by hand into three or four pieces directly over a bowl.
- 9
Boil the broken ziti in salted boiling water until al dente, reserving a small cup of pasta water.
- 10
Drain the pasta and toss directly in the pot with several generous ladles of hot ragù sauce.
- 11
Serve immediately in warm bowls with freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano and fresh basil leaves.
Chef's tips
Snap the ziti over a wide bowl to catch any tiny fragments of pasta that fly off. Keep the ragù heat at the barest whisper so the sauce gently bubbles, known in Naples as pippiare.
Ingredient substitutions
- ziti pasta → candele pasta or rigatoni if long ziti are unavailable
- beef chuck → beef shin or beef braising steak
Storage
Store leftover dressed pasta in an airtight container in the fridge for up to two days.
Reheating
Reheat gently in a saucepan over medium-low heat with a splash of water until piping hot.
Common mistakes to avoid
- •Boiling the sauce too aggressively, which dries it out instead of gently melting the onions and meat.
- •Using precut short pasta instead of breaking long ziti by hand, losing the traditional varied texture.
- •Overcooking the pasta until soft rather than keeping a firm bite.
Serving suggestions
Cooked Ziti al Ragù?
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