You guys! This is seriously the best ragú recipe on the face of the earth. It’s obscenely delicious. I wanted to eat the entire thing straight out of the pot, by myself, with a spoon, and a hunk of crusty baguette. I literally had to do everything in my power not to eat it all by myself before my husband came home. For reals. And do you want to know what it’s the best ever?!? Well because it’s from my dear dear friend Aida’s new cookbook, Keys to the Kitchen!
It’s basically the best book out there. And I have officially made it my new go-to kitchen reference book. It’s LOADED with information from super simple techniques to fun ideas that you can use to explore your own creativity in the kitchen. Brilliant. I’m in love.
Aida is seriously one of my favorite people out there and she’s been my trusty resource for all things food for a number of years now! It all started years ago, but I knew after our 5 day road trip extravaganza to Austin, Texas we were going to be friends forever 🙂 It never ceases to amaze me how much that woman knows about food! It’s fascinating to listen to her talk, and now we can all enjoy her wealth of knowledge in her first cookbook! If I’m ever in need of a recipe, I know that I can always trust Aida’s to be polished and delicious.
If you guys only wanted to buy 1 cookbook for the rest of this year, this would be it! It’s the best. And I feel confident tackling any kitchen extravaganza with this book in hand!
And because it’s so amazing, and I think you should all have it, and I would buy it for each and every one of you if I didn’t have to pay my rent, I’m giving away 1 copy instead! Just leave a comment on this post letting me know what your key to the kitchen is!! I’ll start… mine I always having fresh citrus on hand. You’d be surprised how much a little squeeze of fresh lemon juice can brighten up a meal! The winner will be picked next Wednesday on Halloween!
To celebrate the launch of Aida’s book, I’m jazzed to say that I’m part of a super fab virtual dinner party. You should check it out for sure.
Here’s where you can buy the book….
// Amazon // Anthropologie // Barnes & Noble // Chronicle Books //
Real Deal Pancetta and Pork Ragú
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 4 ounces pancetta cut into a small dice
- 2 yellow onions finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves finely chopped
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 carrots finely chopped
- 2 celery sticks finely chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 1/2 pound ground pork
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 2/3 cup dry red wine
- One 28 ounce can tomato puree
- One 28 ounce can diced tomatoes with juice
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 bunch basil leaves picked, plus more for garnish
- 1/2 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese grated
Instructions
- Line a plate with paper towels; set aside. Heat the oil in a large, heavy bottom pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. When the oil shimmers, add the pancetta and cook until crisp, about 6 minutes. If the pancetta lets off a lot of fat, discard all but 3 tbsp of drippings. Remove the pancetta with a slotted spoon to the prepared plate and set aside.
- Return the pot to the stove over medium heat, add the onion and garlic, season with salt and pepper, and cook until vegetables are translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the carrots, celery and bay lead and cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
- Add the ground meat and stir to break up. Once the meat starts to brown, after about 10 minutes, add the tomato paste and stir until evenly mixed. Add the wine, tomato puree, and the diced tomatoes with juice and cook until the tomatoes start to simmer, about 10 minutes,
- Add the milk, 1 tbsp kosher salt, and butter and mix until thoroughly incorporated and bring to a simmer. Decrease the heat to very low, and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thick and reduced by about one-third, about 1 1/2 - 2 hours. Taste the sauce and add the sugar if the sauce is sour. Stir in the reserved pancetta, sliced basil and cheese; tate, and adjust seasoning as needed.
Dangit that sounds good. I need to add pork to my sauce more often.
Gaby – I’ll join you next time you want to sit around with baguettes and eat loads of ragu — that’s right up my alley! Thanks for sharing Keys To The Kitchen with everyone here and for all your awesome support. Big xs and os!
I would eat that straight out of the pot as well. My key to the kitchen… have fun, worse case scenario something doesn’t work you eat a bowl of cereal ; )
Sounds like this book is a real gem! This ragu looks scrumptious… the ultimate comfort food.
Looks really good. I am going to have to try it soon. Relax and enjoy cooking with your family.
Such a fun recipe… and what a gorgeous book!!! I cant wait to order one!
Key to the kitchen – cheese – it makes everything better.
My key to the kitchen is to always cook more than I need, so I have a back up plan for lazy days. This cook book looks amazing!
My key to the kitchen is to take advantage of nap time. I can get twice as much done when I’m not being interrupted!
I need some of that Ragu – it looks wonderful and I’m certain it’s delicious.
The key to my kitchen is to have fun and be adventureous and always try new things!
Key to the kitchen – call me crazy, but I freeze our trash – we don’t waste half full trash bags that litter our landfill and the kitchen never smells. We freeze meat fat scraps and veggie scraps – anything that will eventually stink. I empty on trash day. It makes for an always pleasant kitchen.
I hear you – I love Aida and her book is so amazing. I love those beautiful pictures and recipes. Thanks for sharing this!
Key to my Kitchen–plan ahead…just a loose plan but so I’m not stressing and have yummy food to look forward to in the week. Love Aida’s book…it’s on my Christmas wish list!
I always keep a bottle of wine on hand. It’s perfect for adding a little extra flavor to sauces and even more perfect for the chef to enjoy (i.e. me!).
My other secret is to have a glass Pyrex storage bowl ready to go or my fiancé (aka The Beau on my blog) will seek out and eat all potential leftovers before dinner is over!
My key to the kitchen is being organized. I recently overhauled my pantry and all my cabinets and drawers so that ingredients, utensils, spices, gadgets, etc are located near where they’re actually needed. I can’t believe how much time this has saved, and how much more I look forward to spending time in the kitchen!
that cookbook looks right up my alley! my key to the kitchen is my new found love for grapeseed oil! 🙂
Organization! I make a weekly grocery list with my recipes for the week and yes this includes Football Sunday snacks! I do everything I can the night before to make the next dinner quick and easy to prepare. It works great with a busy life style and also keeps me on track to eating healthy.
My key to the kitchen is leftovers! I am a graduate student and as much as I LOVE to cook, there are days where I simply don’t have the time!
Can’t wait to try this recipe.My key to my kitchen is my kitchen aid mixer.
I’m with you Gaby – Aida’s book would be my first choice for everyone looking for a cookbook – it’s brilliant! As is the gorgeous Aida!
This Ragu sound delicious and I will try it tonight. My key to my kitchen is to always have cilantro and avacados as you can do so much with them in a meal.
Aida’s cookbook is on my wish list! My key to the kitchen is planning and organization.
That looks delicious, I can’t wait to try it! My key to the kitchen is to always have plenty of good wine, ice cream in the freezer, and the number for a decent pizza place, just in case! Can’t go wrong!
Clean counters and no dirty dishes…:)
Saw this recipe on Pinterest and I can NOT wait to try it! Love Aida!
The key to my kitchen would have to be garlic… it doesn’t go in everything, but pretty close! 🙂
A clean and organized kitchen is the only way I can make something without stressing out about not having anywhere to put dirty dishes, etc.
My best key to the kitchen is the pressure cooker – it makes slow food quickly!
My mouth is literally watering just reading the ingredients! This is a recipe my hubby would L<3VE, and I can't wait to try it. Thanks for posting! I'd love to win a copy of this great cookbook, and promise to pay it forward, by buying a friend a copy too 🙂
Holy wow this looks fantastic! My key to the kitchen is having homemade chicken stock on hand. Whenever I buy a Costco rotisserie chicken, instead of tossing the carcas, I make stock! It’s so nice to have on hand and the depth of flavor far exceeds the boxed kind. Thanks for the giveaway!!
Wow that looks delicious…
My key to the kitchen? hm… Well since my husband and I are both in college and grad school my key to the kitchen is whenever I make something tasty, make lots so we have leftovers. 🙂
Always have good Parmigiano Reggiano on hand. That, and canning all my summer tomatoes!
My key to the kitchen is reading a recipe ahead of time and doing all of the prep work so you can just start creating without worrying about missing an ingredient or cutting up an onion while your olive oil simmers away! Also, cleaning as you go is GREAT. Thanks!
I would say garlic is a key in my kitchen.
My key to the kitchen would be music. Nothing is better to me than to mix brownies or cookies while listening to Lauren Hill or 90’s RNB. No matter how the food turns out, I enjoy the process of making it.
My key is to keep on trying new recipes. It keeps it fun and gives me lots of new ideas.
My key is to keep trying new recipes. Keeps it fun and provides me with lots of new ideas.
Thanks for the giveaway! My key–roll with it. Cook whatever sounds good at the time, add whatever seems to go with it, taste as you go, add until it’s right. I start with recipes, and then add to create my own custom creations.
My key to the kitchen – having friends over to cook together as often as possible. Makes life so much more fun and everyone has leftovers!
I have been looking for a new ragu recipe and I love how this is pork influenced! Giving it a whirl …
Oh, wow, this sounds so good. I am drooling just reading and looking at the pictures.
Can’t wait to try this, just hope the commissary carries pancetta.
And adding pork to a ragu , would have never even crossed my mind.
Thanks for posting it 🙂
Mmm!
My key to the kitchen is simply this: very sharp knives. My life changed when I got the most perfectly sharp chef’s knife as a wedding gift. It makes prep work so much easy, so quick, and so fun. I couldn’t cook without it.
*One downside is that once you get used to it, you can never ever go back. After about year of using my amazing knife, I was at a friend’s house for dinner, and offered to dice tomatoes and other veggies and cut up a watermelon, because “I LOVE chopping things up! I could do it all day!” Her knives were horrible, and I hated my life for those 20 minutes… yeah, it took about that long.
Great giveaway! Thank you!
My Key is a clean kitchen and making sure a menu is made in advance so there are no last minute trips to the grocery store while hungry!
Having a clean kitchen – it helps me to get started again!
Key to my kitchen…Butter, enough said.
Garlic is my key ingredient in all my food.
My key: parchment paper! It’s so useful for baking and prep work. I like to pile chopped ingredients on pieces of parchment instead of in bowls so I have less to clean.
Keys: onions; so many recipes call for them and my Le Cruset Dutch oven.
My key to the kitchen would be to always take that extra step to prep all of your ingredients before you start cooking. Makes the whole process go a lot smoother, and nothing gets burned because you were chopping vegetables when you should have been sautéing the onions.
Love this recipe – can’t wait to try it. My key to the kitchen is having good olive oil on hand all the time..for salads, breads, saute vegetables, everything – my Italian husband taught me this trick of the trade.
My key to the kitchen is to always prep ingredients and measure things out ahead of time.