Milk-braised three pork ragu
This ragu is a riff on the dish maiale al latte - milk-braised pork. Typically maiale al latte is made with pork loin or sometimes shoulder, and as the name suggests it’s braised in milk, resulting in a wonderfully tender and flavourful dish as the lactic acid in the milk breaks down the protein in the pork, which in turn tenderises the meat. The whey from the milk separates into curds as you introduce heat and usually a little acidity in the form of lemon, creating a sort of cragginess reminiscent of small blobs of ricotta. While frankly a little unsightly, these curds hold so much wonderful flavour, and texturally it’s quite the delight. I consider this a bit of a trust the process kind of dish - you really need to keep the vision of those wonderful flavours you’ll have at the end in mind and get past how it looks.
For this ragu I’ve used a sort of holy trinity of pork, consisting of smoked pancetta, Italian style sausage and pork mince - I love how deeply salty and savoury this is, with each addition of pork adding another depth of flavour - plus the hints of lemon and sage are a welcome note on the palate.
As with most ragus, this is even better served the next day. There’s just something about a night in the fridge that makes this 10x better. I’ll pop a note below on how I like to handle reheating it, but even if you do make this to enjoy on the same day, I can promise you it’s still a dream to eat - and makes a nice change from the usual tomato-based ragus.
Milk-braised three pork ragu
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 medium carrot, finely diced
1 celery stalk (or two smaller sticks/ribs), finely diced
1 brown onion, finely diced
100g smoked pancetta, cut into cubes
150g Italian sausage (approx 1 large link), meat removed from its casing
500g pork mince
100ml lager (or you can use white wine)
500ml chicken stock
500ml whole milk
Bay leaf
Sprig of sage
Lemon peel
Head of garlic, cut into two halves
Parmesan rind (optional, only if you have one to hand!)
To serve
Pasta of choice for 4 serves - I used one batch of my master dough and made pappardelle
Parmigiano reggiano
Method
Finely diced the carrot, celery and onion to create your soffritto.
Heat 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan suitable for cooking a slow ragu - and over a medium heat add the soffritto, cooking over several minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the pancetta and crumble in chunks of the sausage with your hands - reduce the heat and slowly render the meats with the soffritto until golden - over the course of another several minutes.
Increase the heat and add the pork mince, cook this until it has colour all over then season with a little salt and pepper.
Now it’s time to deglaze the pan with the lager, let it reduce and practically disappear, then add the milk and stock, following by the aromats - bay leaf, sage, lemon peel, and parmesan rind if using.
Reduce the heat immediately and allow this to cook partially covered or covered with a cartouche for approximate 3 hours.
Check in on the ragu occasionally, stirring to ensure nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan. The sauce will almost instantly become craggy as the whey separates from the milk, creating small curds throughout the ragu - it is’t the prettiest, you’ll just need to trust the process on this one.
You can enjoy the ragu right away with your favourite pasta, however as with all ragus it is certainly almost ways better after an overnight rest in the fridge - the flavours develop so wonderfully!
To reheat and serve, I often like to add a knob of butter (though you don’t have to) and bring back to temperature over a very gentle heat, stirring here and there. If for any reason the ragu seems to have dried out, add a splash of water, cover, and continue to heat.
Toss through al dente pasta, and serve with an extra smattering of grated parmigiano reggiano and cracked black pepper.
