Orecchiette con Sugo Rapido alla Barese
(oh-rek-kee-EHT-teh kon SOO-goh RAH-pee-doh ahl-lah bah-RAY-zay)
Sugo della Domenica: The Sacred Sunday Dinner
This isn't an all-day Sunday tethered to a pot of braciole—thin sheets of meat rolled around garlic, parsley, and sharp pecorino, simmering for hours. When it's Tuesday night in an Ohio suburb and the hot oil hisses, by taking the herbaceous flavors of the traditional braciola stuffing and aggressively browning them directly into quick-cooking ground beef alongside a 28-ounce can of whole tomatoes, you build the caramelized garlic notes of a slow-simmered ragù in forty-five minutes. Salt the water and drop the orecchiette.
Ingredients
- pancetta3 oz
- ground beef1 lb
- extra-virgin olive oil3 tbsp
- yellow onion1 small
- garlic4 large clove
- fresh flat-leaf parsley1/2 cup
- Pecorino Romano cheese1/2 cup
- crushed red pepper flakes1/4 tsp
- dry white wine1/2 cup
- passata di pomodoro24 oz
- kosher saltto taste
- black pepperto taste
- dried orecchiette pasta1 lb
Method
- 01
Render the pancetta and brown the beef.
Place a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat with the olive oil and pancetta, cooking until the fat renders. Add the ground beef, breaking it up and leaving it undisturbed for a few minutes at a time to develop a deeply roasted, dark brown crust.
- 02
Infuse the Barese aromatics.
Lower the heat to medium, add the finely diced onion, and cook until softened. Stir in the minced garlic, chopped parsley, and red pepper flakes, sautéing for just sixty seconds until highly fragrant without burning the garlic.
- 03
Deglaze and build the sauce.
Pour in the wine, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan, and let it bubble aggressively until the smell of alcohol dissipates. Stir in the tomato passata, season gently with salt and black pepper, and bring to a gentle bubble before reducing the heat to low and simmering partially covered for twenty minutes.
- 04
Boil the orecchiette.
Drop the pasta into a large pot of heavily salted boiling water, cooking it for two minutes less than the package instructions. Scoop out one cup of the starchy cooking water and set it aside before draining.
- 05
Emulsify the pasta and sauce.
Add the drained orecchiette directly to the skillet with the simmering meat sauce along with a quarter cup of the reserved pasta water. Increase the heat to medium and stir vigorously for one to two minutes until the starches bind the fat and tomato into a glossy sauce that clings perfectly to the pasta.
- 06
Finish with pecorino.
Remove the skillet from the heat, sprinkle the grated Pecorino Romano over the pasta, and stir it in. The residual heat will melt the sharp sheep's milk cheese into the sauce, delivering the unmistakable bite of a true Barese Sunday dinner.
Notes
Look for bronze-die extruded pasta.
To ensure the sauce grips the pasta appropriately, seek out dried orecchiette with a rough, chalky texture. Smooth pasta will not hold the thick meat sauce properly.
Accept no substitutes for Pecorino.
Cow's milk Parmesan is far too sweet and nutty for this preparation. The sharp, slightly pungent bite of aged sheep's milk Pecorino Romano is essential to recreating the regional flavor.
From Cook Italian in America.