Recipe & photography by Ed Barrow.
Ingredients
- 250g of ground venison
- 60g of smoked streaky bacon, finely diced
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 small carrot, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 60ml of port
- 5 juniper berries, lightly crushed
- 1 bay leaf
- Large sprig pf rosemary
- 1 small sprig thyme
- Half a tsp ground allspice
- 120ml of passata
- 180ml of beef stock
- 150g of Northern Pasta Co Casarecce
- Large handful of fresh basil leaves
- 30g of dark chocolate, at least 80%
- Parmesan, for serving
Method
Start by adding a good splash of oil to a heavy bottomed suate pan or frying pan. Place on a medium high heat and once veery hot add the mince. Fry for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally until the venison has gained a good dark caramelisation all over. Then remove this from the pan and leave to one side.
Turn the heat down to medium and add the bacon, fry for 4-5 minutes until starting to crisp up and turn golden. Then add the onion and carrot and cook down for 10 minutes stirring regularly. Once softened add the garlic, tomato paste, herbs and spices. Cook for a couple of minutes until fragrant before adding the passata and beef stock. Deglaze the pan by scraping anything stuck to the bottom off and then season generously with salt and pepper.
Turn the heat down to very low, place a lid on and then gently simmer for at least an hour, but ideally 2 or 3 for maximum flavour. Add small splashes of water if needed to ensure the ragu doesn’t dry up to much.
Once the ragu is cooked down and you are happy with it, cook the Casarecce in the boiling water until al-dente.
Whilst the pasta is cooking, finish the sauce by adding the basil leaves and dark chocolate and stir together.
Drain the pasta once cooked and add to the ragu, mix together before diving between two bowls and finishing with some Parmesan over the top.
