Garganelli with Pork Ragoût (Full Recipe)
Garganelli with Pork Ragoût - French Cooking Techniques
Makes | 4 servings
Day 1 | 5 minutes • Cooking day | 4–5 hours
Garganelli are ridged pasta tubes with pointy ends. It’s important not to roll your pasta too thin when making this shape, as this may cause the tubes to collapse during cooking. Also, plan to make these at least an hour before cooking so they have time to dry at room temperature before boiling.
Ingredients
500 grams (1 pound) pork shoulder, shank, or neck
Salt, to taste
1 dash cooking oil
½ Spanish onion, large dice
3 cloves garlic, crushed
30 grams (about 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon) tomato paste
25 grams (2 tablespoons) white wine
1 kilogram (4 cups) Chicken Stock (page 13)
2 bay leaves
5 grams (about 1½ teaspoons) black peppercorns
240 grams (2 cups + 1 tablespoon) 00 flour
2 whole large eggs + 1 egg yolk
1 dash extra virgin olive oil for the pasta dough + more for garnishing the plated pasta
100 grams (1 cup) Parmigiano-Reggiano
100 grams (7 tablespoons) unsalted butter
Tools
Food processor
Pasta roller
5 wheel pastry cutter
Plastic wrap
Instructions for Pork Ragoût
One day ahead, prep the pork.
1. One day in advance, dice the meat into 2-inch chunks and season with salt. Chill uncovered in the refrigerator overnight to allow the meat to dry out.
On the day of service, make the pasta and sauce.
1. Braise the pork at least four hours before serving (preferably more).
2. Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the cooking oil and brown the meat evenly all over.
3. Once you have a good sear, push the meat aside and sweat the onion and garlic until they’re translucent and slightly caramelized. Add the tomato paste and sauté briefly. Deglaze with white wine and reduce by 2/3 over medium-high heat, approximately 2–3 minutes.
4. Add the chicken stock, bay leaves, and peppercorns and bring to a simmer.
5. Cover the Dutch oven and simmer on low for approximately 3 hours, or until the meat is completely tender but still chunky.
6. Remove the meat and set aside. Strain and discard the vegetables, reserving the liquid. Return the liquid to the pan and reduce by ¾ over medium-high heat, or until it’s flavorful and slightly thickened.
7. Return the meat to the liquid and hold it off the heat until ready for service.
Make the pasta at least two hours before serving.
1. Put the flour in the food processor with a pinch of salt. Pulse to combine. Whisk together the whole eggs, egg yolk, and olive oil. Slowly drizzle this mixture into the flour mixture in the food processor with the motor running. Once the dough comes together in a rough mass and there’s no more loose flour in the work bowl, take it out of the food processor and knead it briefly before covering tightly in plastic. Let the dough rest on the countertop for at least 30 minutes.
2. After the pasta dough has rested for 30 minutes, divide it in half and roll each piece into a small ball. Rest the dough for another 30 minutes.
3. Use a rolling pin to flatten one of the dough balls into an oval approximately ¼-inch thick. Open your pasta roller to the widest setting and pass the dough oval through two times. Close the rollers one setting and pass the dough through one time. Fold the dough over into thirds so it becomes roughly square. Close the rollers one setting again and pass the dough through two times. Dust the sheet with bench flour sparingly and only as needed. Continue in this manner until you’re at the second-to-thinnest setting. (The dough will become more sticky the thinner it gets, so you may need more bench flour later in the process.) Fold your dough sheet (also called sfoglia) and cover it with a clean kitchen towel so it doesn’t dry out. Repeat the process with the other dough ball.
4. Use a pastry cutter to cut the dough sheets into 1 ½ to 2-inch-wide strips. Make 1 ½ to 2-inch perpendicular cuts across the dough sheet to make square noodles.
5. Wrap the dough squares around the handle of a wooden spoon one by one. Press two opposite corners together to seal the dough into a diamond-shaped tube. (If the pasta sticks to the spoon handle, you can dust it with flour.)
6. Let the garganelli dry at room temperature for at least 30 minutes so they don’t collapse immediately when they hit the cooking water.