Spinach Tagliatelle with a Wild Boar Ragu Bianco

In June of 2024, All-Clad was highlighted as the main cookware partner in the Americas Bocuse competition in New Orleans. This year one of the two dishes, the platter dish, will use a rack of wild boar. Wild boar meat is something my family loved to use to create a Ragu Bianco which is a ragu without tomatoes. Honoring my family and this delicious product the Bocuse competition has highlighted, I created a spinach pasta to pair with this delicious meat sauce.

Ingredients

Wild Boar Ragu

• 2 pounds of ground wild boar shoulder (if not available, use pork shoulder)
• 4 oz of bacon divided (2 oz cut into lardons for rendering, 2 oz for ground)
• 2 ribs of celery finely diced
• 1 medium carrot finely diced
• 1 medium yellow onion finely diced
• 1 teaspoon of chopped thyme
• 1 teaspoon of chopped sage
• 1 teaspoon of chopped rosemary
• 8 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• 1 cup dry white wine
• 4 cups of chicken stock
• 1 cup of whole milk
• 8 oz of crème fraiche
• 1/2 tsp of ground nutmeg

Spinach Tagliatelle

• 6 oz fresh spinach
• 2 eggs
• 6 egg yolks
• 400-450 grams of 00 Tipo Flour
• 1/2 tsp good quality olive oil
• 1 large pinch of salt

Garnish

• 1 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup of toasted bread crumbs

Directions

1. Add the 2 oz of bacon lardons to the All-Clad 5.5 Quart Ragu Pan. Turn the heat to low and render the fat from the bacon for about 5-10 minutes. Remove the pork fat and reserve. Reserve the crispy bacon bits for garnish.
2. Wipe the bottom of the pan clean. Add 1 tablespoon of neutral oil along with 1 tbsp of bacon fat back into the pan over medium low heat. Add the carrots, celery, and onion to the pan. Cook for about 5-7 minutes or until the vegetables are translucent and softened. Remove from the pan and reserve.
3. Add the remaining bacon fat with 1 tablespoon of neutral oil over medium heat. Once the oil is hot add the ground wild boar along with the ground bacon. Brown the meat all over, ensuring it is cooked through. Add the carrot, celery, and onion mix back into the pan. Stir the mixture to combine. Add your aromatics including the herbs and garlic. Cook for an additional minute or until the contents are very fragrant.
4. Using the wine, deglaze the bottom of the pan scraping up all bits of flavor. Cook for a minute or so until the wine is cooked down. Pour the stock and half of the milk into the pan. Stir to combine. Bring to a slow boil, reduce the heat to low and allow the mixture to simmer for one hour. You want the liquid to cook down to at least the level of the solid content mixture in the pan. At this point go ahead and add the creme fraiche and remaining milk. Season with salt and pepper and continue to simmer for an additional 30 minutes to an hour. The mixture will be thickened and no longer have the look and feel of a soup but more of a condensed combined sauce or "White Ragu". Taste and adjust the seasoning of salt and pepper if desired. You want the mixture to be seasoned but not overly salted as you will be adding salted pasta water at the end.
5. Spinach Pasta Dough- In a large 8 qt stock pot, bring 6 qts of water to a rolling boil. Add enough salt so the water tastes like the sea. Have a bowl of ice water ready. Add the spinach to the boiling water and blanch for 15 seconds. Remove from pot and plunge into the ice water to stop the cooking process. Remove from the ice water when cooled completely.
6. Use your hands to wring out the liquid from the spinach and reserve the water in a bowl. In a high speed blender, or using an immersion blender add the spinach and blend to a puree. Use the spinach water to assist in making the spinach puree. Start with 1 tablespoon of water with the spinach. If the mixture is still clumpy, add more water until the final result is completely pureed.
7. Combine the eggs, yolks, and spinach puree in a mixing bowl. Whisk to combine these three ingredients completely. On a working surface, add the flour and create a well in the middle. Pour the spinach/egg mixture in the middle of the well. Add the pinch of salt and olive oil to the egg mixture. Using a fork combine the flour into the egg mixture and begin to knead the dough. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes. If the dough is sticky during the process you can add more flour in tablespoon intervals. The dough will spring back and be untacky when it is ready. Wrap in plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for a half hour.
8. When ready, use a pasta machine to help roll the dough out to approximately 6mm thick. Cut the dough using a sharp knife and toss in more flour to keep the dough from sticking. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil. Add enough salt to taste like the sea. Cook the fresh pasta dough for about 1 minute. Taste and if needed keep in the water for an additional 30 seconds to one minute. Reserve roughly 1 cup of the pasta water
9. Put it all together: Add the cooked pasta to the ragu pan with the Ragu that is fully cooked and thickened. Pour half oof the pasta water into the pan and add 1/2 cup of the parmesan cheese. Toss to combine and add more water and cheese if desired. Serve immediately with more cheese, the reserved bacon bits, and some of the toasted bread crumbs.

Pro Tip

You can take both the garnishes outlined above and combine together. Use your fingers to break the cheese into the breadcrumbs to combine completely. Then you can dust the top of each plated pasta with the mixture.

RECIPE BY

All-Clad Resident Chef Derek Finocchiaro

All-Clad’s Resident Chef Derek has been working with flavors and fragrance for his entire career. Finding a path from perfumery to food, Derek competed on numerous amateur cooking shows which led him to the All-Clad Test kitchen. Here he excels in creating new recipes, blogs, video demos, and food photography for our consumers.