Pappardelle with Spicy Lamb Ragu

A few years ago Ryan and I got both the veal and the lamb ragu from one of our go-to Italian restaurants in the city, called Paprika. The secret to this ragu was the rosemary - amazeeeee. We both had cravings for it for like a year and would go back for it probably once a month or so... until they took it off their specials menu! It was a sad day... but we decided that we had to try making it ourselves.

It's been on our to-do list for a while now, and I finally got around to doing it tonight. I decided to make lamb over veal since it has more flavor...plus, I already posted about veal ragu. Our own version of lamb ragu came out great, and we enjoyed this dinner very much, with a couple of glasses of Petite Syrah from Sonoma Valley.

Ingredients: Serves 4

• 3 tbs Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1  1/2-2 lb leg of lamb or lamb shoulder, boned and cut into chunks (I used shoulder)
• 1 carrot, scraped and cubed
• 1 red onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 ribs celery, chopped
• 1/4 tsp coriander seeds, roasted
• 1/2 tbs fennel seeds
• pinch of cumin
• 2 sprigs of rosemary, chopped
• 3-4 sprigs of of thyme, chopped
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 small can of tomato puree
• 1 can of whole peeled tomatoes
• 14 oz pappardelle
• dab of butter
• chunk of parmigiano cheese for grating

Heat the oil in a heavy large sauce pan. Sear the meat in batches on all sides. Do not fry everything at once, as too much moisture will be released and you will end up boiling the meat. Remove the meat from the pan and set aside on a plate.

In the same frying oil, saute` the carrot, onion, and celery. Add the meat, all spices and herbs, and the tomato puree. Saute` the mixture on high heat while stirring until the tomato puree starts to smell sweet. Add the red wine and stir. Fold in the peeled tomatoes and enough broth to immerse the meat. Simmer on low heat for 1 1/2-2 hours with the lid left ajar on the pan.

Check occasionally whether there is enough moisture in the pan - add some hot broth if necessary. At the end, taste for salt and pepper and add more as necessary.

Bring a pan of water to a boil and add some salt. Toss in the Pappardelle and cook until it is al dente, drain. Scoop the pasta into a plate and add a heavy ladle or 2 of ragu on top. Top with grated parmigiano cheese.