After watching Salt Fat Acid Heat the other week, I was been dreaming of ragú and I had Samin‘s recipe for Benedetta’s ragú open in safari all week. Ultimately, because we’d already had beef this week, I ended up making something a little bit lighter, a modified version of Bon Appetite’s rigatoni with spicy calabrese-style pork ragù that I’ll call penne with spicy samin-style turkey and pork ragú because, well, I used penne and a combination of pork and turkey, and because I used some of the things that I learned from Samin and from her recipe.
Generally speaking though, this is a really great recipe that I’ve made as is and I’ve also fiddled with it a lot. I’ve made it with double soffritto; with all turkey; with half turkey and half half pork, as I did here; with and without milk; with sweet sausage, with hot sausage, and with a mix of both; with a Parmesan rind; with basil rather than parsley; with varying amount of spice; and in a classic dutch oven and in my Instant Pot. Its a great jumping off point for a ragú that amenable to whatever you are specifically in the mood for.
INGREDIENTS
4 medium red spring onions
2 carrot
2 celery stalks and leafs
4 garlic gloves
1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
1/2 cup coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley, divided in half
1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 lb pound hot and 1/2 lb sweet Italian sausage, casings removed
1 pound ground turkey
Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 cup of milk
Parmesan rind
1 pound mezzi rigatoni or penne rigate
3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan or Grana Padano, plus more
Pulse onion, carrot, celery, garlic, red pepper flakes, and 1/4 cup parsley in a food processor or blender until finely chopped or chop finely; transfer to a small bowl and set aside.
Purée tomatoes with juices in food processor or blender; set aside.
Heat oil in Instant Pot on sauté function; add sausage and cook, breaking up with a spoon, until browned, about 4 minutes. Per Samin, do not salt or pepper so that it will brown. When cooked through, transfer to a plate. Add ground turkey, breaking up with a spoon, until no longer pink. Per Samin, do not salt or pepper so that it will brown. When cooked through, transfer to a plate.
Add vegetable mixture to Instant Pot and again, per Samin, brown for 20–30 minutes, do not salt, and adding additional olive oil if it dries out or sticks.
Stir tomato paste and 1 cup water in a small bowl; add to pot. De-glaze the pan, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pot.
Add reserved meat, tomatoes, 1/2 cup of milk, Parmesan rind, 2 teaspoons of salt and a generous amount of freshly ground pepper. Close lid and cook on high pressure for 1 hour.
Cook pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until al dente.
Add pasta and 1/2 cup pasta cooking liquid to sauce; stir to coat. Stir in 3/4 cup Parmesan and remaining 1/4 cup parsley. Increase heat to medium and continue stirring, adding more pasta cooking liquid as needed, until sauce coats pasta.
Divide among bowls; top with more Parmesan.
Serves six.