Dish of Pasta with Giblet Ragu
(click to enlarge)

Ragu of Giblets


Italy   -   Ragù di Rigaglie de Pollo
Makes:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 1-1/2 #
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3-1/2 hr
Yes		 A memorable meat ragu that can be served with various shapes of pasta. Do not trying making it the day you expect to serve it - do 1 or 2 days ahead and refrigerate. See also Alternate.




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Porcini, dried (1)  
Water, hot
Tomatoes, ripe
Chicken Gizzards
Chicken Hearts
Pancetta, lean (2)
-- Vegies
Onion
Carrot
Celery
-- Herbs-
Parsley, flat
Garlic
Bay Leaf
Sage leaf (3)
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Olive Oil, ExtV
White Wine, dry
Tomato Sauce (4)
Chicken Stock (5)  
Salt
Pepper
-- Garnish
Parmesan
Prep   -   (1-1/2 hrs - mostly cutting giblets)
  1. Place MUSHROOMS in 1 cup cold water. If any particles fall to the bottom, lift the Mushrooms out and change the water until no more particles fall. Do a final 1 hr soak in 1 cup hot water.
  2. Scald TOMATOES in boiling water 1 minute, chill in cold water and peel. Chop small.
  3. Cut GIZZARDS and HEARTS into 1/4 inch dice. Mix.
  4. Chop PANCETTA fine.
  5. Chop ONION, CARROT, and CELERY fine. Mix.
  6. Chop PARSLEY fine. Crush GARLIC, mix both with BAY LEAF and SAGE LEAVES.
  7. Grate CHEESE for garnish.
Run   -   (2 hrs)
  1. In a 3-1/2 quart sauté pan or similar, heat Olive Oil over moderate flame. Stir in Pancetta, then Vegi mix. Fry over moderate heat, stirring now and then, until Onions are translucent, then turn up heat a bit until you see a trace of browning.
  2. Stir in Giblets. Keep over high heat until all exuded liquid has evaporated, then turn to moderate and brown fairly slowly, stirring with increasing frequently and scraping up fond adhering to the pan. The browning should take 30 to 40 minutes.
  3. Strain the Mushrooms reserving the liquid. Chop the mushrooms fine and add to the pot.
  4. Stir in Herbs mix and fry over moderate heat for about 2-1/2 minutes.
  5. Strain the Mushroom Liquid and stir it into the pot. Let it fry over moderate heat for about 5 minutes, scraping up any fond stuck to the pan.
  6. Stir in the Wine, Tomato Sauce, and Tomatoes. Allow to bubble over moderate heat until nearly all liquid has evaporated.
  7. Stir in 1 cup Stock and let bubble until nearly all liquid has evaporated.
  8. Stir in remaining 2 cups Stock and bring up to a simmer. Stir in Salt and Pepper. Simmer, stirring now and then, and checking it is not too dry, until the Giblets are tender and it is all at a sauce consistency. If the meat is still too chewy for you, give the simmer another 1/2 hour .
  9. Note:   When there is still a fair amount of liquid, I pour most it into a glass measuring cup. I let it settle for a few minutes, the skim off the excess fats from the top. I return it to the pan and place the pan back on the heat.
  10. Serve hot with Pasta, with Parmesan on the side (see Note-6).
NOTES:

  1. Porcini Mushrooms:

      These are pretty much essential to Italian cooking, but can be very expensive and poor quality. I buy them 8 ounces at a time from nuts.com at a more reasonable price. Theirs have never needed any effort to clean out dirt and debris. For details see our Fungus page.

  2. Pancetta:

      This is an Italian cured but unsmoked bacon. When my usual deli was unexpectedly out of it, I found a very mildly smoked bacon from Poland, imported by Red Square, and it worked fine.

  3. Sage Leaf:

      If you can't get fresh, use dried in an amount that would be about the same size before drying.

  4. Tomato Sauce:

      Rather than using tomato paste called for in recipes, I like to add a convenient 8oz can of a very simple tomato sauce, which helps make up for deficient tomatoes. My favorite is Faraon Spanish Style, but other simple sauces will also work.

  5. Chicken Stock:

      I make a lot of stock, but reserve it for where it really counts, not where it will be overwhelmed with other flavors. Here I used what many ethnicities have turned to these days when they no longer have a stay-at-home all day cook. For three cups I used a Tablespoon of Knorr Chicken Powder and 1 teaspoon Vegeta. It worked fine.

  6. Serving:

      The Italian way of serving would be to mix the sauce with the pasta (less sauce than Americans often use), sprinkle the cheese over, toss, and serve in small bowls as a pasta course. I don't serve it this way because I'm not Italian. I'm usually serving "American style", as a main (or only) course, and want better control of all elements at the table, as well as a more decorative appearance. I serve similarly to the photo, though the sauce may be at the side of the dish and the cheese in a separate bowl to be applied as desired.

  7. Alternate:

      This method produces a different texture, but it may be preferred by many. Because the time for cutting the Giblets and simmering to tender is so long, I decided to try using a meat grinder (English "mincer"). I used the plate with the largest holes and the two bladed cutter to maximize the size of the particals. It was still much finer than the cut version. Procedure beyond that is precisely the same, except take care with the frying step, it works a little different. Watch the fond sticking to the pan. Chocolate is fine, black is not. If it gets too dark go to the next step immediately.
  8. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
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