The richest of the rich, from the cheapest cuts of meat.
An incredibly tasty and filling meal to feed a crowd (or a freezer) on an iddy biddy budget.

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A campervan is for life, not just for summer so why not hit the road in the cooler months of the year? What better excuse to snuggle up under the covers and listen to the rain or watch the snow fall from bed?

Some of the most memorable days from my travelling adventure have been waking up to an unexpected fresh layer of snow. In such a situation the first thing I do is decide what kind of stew I am going to cook for that evening. I drink my morning coffee daydreaming of the smells that are going to fill my campervan as I laze around just keeping warm and feeling all festive, regardless of the time of year.

Such a day snuck up on us in Gerogia, the country, not the state. The day before had been a perfect spring day, blue skies full of promise, peeping bright green shoots and a brisk stroll along the edge of the Black Sea. The last thing I was expecting the following morning was a good few inches of snow.

I woke up feeling like my face had been in a strong cold wind all night long and was frozen solid. I pulled back the curtain, saw the snow and instantly felt like Christmas…and slow cooked goodness, good and hot, body and soul warming.

I wrapped up warm in my bed socks and bear skin (not an actual bear skin, a big fluffy dressing gown – essential packing for wintry camping), switched on the twinks (fairy lights) and chopped, seasoned and browned my ingredients.

I threw in a few cans of tomatoes, added a cartouche to keep all the juicy goodness in, dropped the heat as low as it would go and let it sit there all day as Alex and I snuggled under the covers and watched 80’s movies like Ghost Busters and Predator on our laptop while the low heat did its thing.

Come 4 in the afternoon we had a delicious home-made slow cooked pork Ragu.
We even ate it in bed with yet another movie and a glass of wine.

Made with love on a wintry day this Ragu will transform you from a chilled damp body into a cozy warm stupor.

Recipe

Serves 4. Never half this recipe as having too much is heavenly, plus IF there are leftovers it is ALWAYS better the next day.

500g Pork rib, bones removed / 500g stewing beef / 500g lamb neck bones removed (be wary of sharp shards) – basically, any well marbled, cheap cut of meat will do in this. Even mince, around 85%/15% fat ratio.

1 medium Onion
1 or 2 carrots
2 celery sticks, peeled to remove strings.
4 cloves garlic
(1 cup of fresh fennel bulb if its handy and you are using pork, otherwise omit)
Oil, coconut or sunflower.

1 sprig rosemary and or thyme, leaves only.

2 cans chopped tomatoes
2 glasses red wine

S&P

Directions

1. Make your soffrito or moirpoix. This is your blend of aromatics that will flavour the ragu. Chop your carrots, onion, celery, garlic and fennel if using, into small, similar sized pieces…or throw in the processor to chop in a flash. Chop herbs as small as you can too and add to veg. Set aside.

2. Cut meat into large chunks and season with S&P. Heat around 1tbsp oil in the largest pan you have and brown the meat on all sides, in batches if necessary.
My suggestion is that if your big pan is stainless steel like mine, bring the meat to room temp before trying to brown or it WILL stick hard to the pan. Brown the meat slowly on a med/high heat to reduce sticking.

3. Add any set aside browned meat back to pan and add your moirpoix. Stir and cook on medium heat so that the vegetables soften, not fry. This should take 5- 8 minutes depending how small the veggies are. Stir to remove any residue that may have stuck to the pan during the browning process, scrape it up with your wooden spoon, loosening as much as you can, this adds flavour to your ragu.

4. Once vegetables are softened pour in the wine, stir and leave to reduce the liquid. Leave it until there is just enough to coat the vegetables and meat and then toss in your tinned toms. Stir well to mix and bring to a low simmer.

5. Make and add your cartouche. A cartouche is a piece of waxed or grease proof paper that will hold the moisture in your ragu. A lid, you may argue does the same thing, but lift a pan lid of a simmering stew and what do you have? A load of liquid condensation that pours all over the place. The Cartouche keeps all that flavoursome vapour IN your stew, not clinging to the lid.

To make it pull a square of waxed or greasproof paper big enough to cover your pan. Fold it in half and then in half again. Keep folding until you have a thin pointy end. Hold the pointy end over the middle of the pan and cut away the outer end so that it will fit inside the pan. It doesn’t matter if it is a little big. I cut a little off the pointy end too to promote reducing.

Open up the cartouche you should have a circle a little bigger than your pan. Wet that sucker a little or wipe a finger or two of oil on it and push it down over the slowly simmering sauce and then add a lid. You really need the heat as low as you can get it. The sauce should have a really slow simmer on or you risk your meat toughening instead of turning into silky, melt on the tongue goodness.

7. Simmer low for 2 – 3 hours. Check after an hour that your liquid levels are ok but if the heat is low enough it will be fine.

8. After three hours the meat will fall apart under a little pressure from your spoon and the sauce will be rich and wonderful. There may be a little too much grease on the surface, if so, tip your pan and the grease will sit on the top. Skim it off with a spoon. I save it because I can’t throw anything away. I put it in the fridge and use it for cooking over the next few days.

Break up the meat so that it is a thick meaty sauce and serve your tender ragu with great pasta, gnocchi or mashed potatoes and greens if you wish.

I have mine in a great big bowl over home-made gnocchi sprinkled with parmesan accompanied by a great big glass of red wine.

Drink Chianti, Valpolicella, Rioja, Pinot Noir or even a chilled but not icy Pinot Grigio with this incredible dish.

If you’re pushing the boat out pick up a Borolo and fall into a flavour induced silence as you are absolutely blown away.