Recipe: Wild Boar Ragu by John Quilter

INGREDIENTS:

For the ragu:

½ large white onion

10 pink peppercorns

6 tbsp dried mushrooms

150g shitake mushroom

150g crimini mushroom

2 bay leaves

8 sage leaves

1 tsp thyme

500g wild boar sausage or mince

100g pecorino

White pepper

Sea salt

20g butter

100ml white wine

200ml chicken stock

80ml single cream

1 white truffle

For the pappardelle pasta:

500g plain flour

500g semolina flour

Pinch granule salt

2–3 tbsp olive oil

9 eggs

Allergens are marked in bold

Pappardelle pasta:

Sieve the flours and then mix thoroughly together in a mixing bowl. Gradually start incorporating the eggs while the flour is turned in your mixing bowl by your hook attachment. Add the oil and then beat on medium for 5-10 minutes. Allow to rest for 12 hours.

The following day the dough will have risen and will have a nice bounce back to it. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Then slice it into ¼ and begin to run the dough through your pasta machine to turn into sheets. Once you’ve achieved the required thickness (2 mm thick) very, very slightly dust the pasta so it won’t stick. Fold it up and slice it into strips for pappardelle. Dust it very finely again so the freshly cut sides don’t stick, loosen out and you’re ready to cook.

Use the largest saucepan you have and fill with generously salted water (it should taste like sea water). Bring to the boil and cook in batches making sure you do not put too much pasta into the simmering water. Cook al dente and use a spider to remove the pasta from the water. Serve immediately.

Ragu:

Dice the onion very finely and sauté on a very low heat, do not allow the onions to colour. Sauté in ½ butter ½ olive oil. Rehydrate the dried mushroom, just cover them in hot water and leave for 30 minutes. Then drain, reserve the mushroom liquor and finely dice the mushrooms along with the other mushrooms.

Once the onions are done, increase the temperature to medium and add the chopped mushrooms and sauté until cooked. Finally add in the finely chopped herbs and cook for 3 – 4 minutes and then set the mixture aside and give the pan a wipe. Add a little oil to the pan and on a low to medium heat, cook the wild boar without colouring.

Once cooked, deglaze the pan with the white wine, add the bay leaf and cook out for 3 – 4 minutes, allowing the liquor to reduce by half. Then add in the mushroom onion mixture, pink peppercorns, the reserved mushroom liquor, the chicken stock, and turn the mixture to a gentle simmer. Reduce by half again.

Finally, add the cream, cook for a further 5 minutes until there is plenty of thickened sauce. Season to taste. Cook the pasta (see above). Spider the cooked pasta into the sauce ensuring you retain some cooking liquor to add into the pan. Do this gradually tasting all the time so the sauce becomes thicker and not diluted. Serve with grated Tuscan pecorino and grated white truffle and a few more peppercorns.