Mamma’s pasta is easy if you surrender to the pressure cooker – 03/27/2023 – Recipes by Marcão

I think it’s beautiful when you go to a restaurant and you see, on the menu, a tomato sauce cooked for six or eight hours. Mamma mia! Who has the time and gas to leave the pot on the fire for that long?

Restaurants, of course. And even then, only if you accept the veracity of the menu’s claim.

For us humans with concerns that go beyond food, technology offers shortcuts. And it’s not even such advanced technology. It goes by the name of pressure cooker.

Pressure is an ally of enormous value to reduce the preparation time of foods that, under normal conditions, take a century to be ready. It raises the boiling temperature of water, which speeds up the whole process.

I resorted to the pressure cooker to cook the Neapolitan ragu. It’s the famous “da mamma” pasta, a tomato sauce with meat that, according to the traditional recipe, must be simmered for at least four hours.

That’s because the meats used in the ragu are the cheapest and toughest – and also the tastiest – pieces of beef and pork.

From the ox, I recommend using parts such as the ribs, the hard drumstick, the chuck and the breast.

From the pork, we go with a loin, rib, belly or knee cup. And a little Tuscan Calabrian sausage.

Preparing the Neapolitan ragu is a breeze when you bend over the pressure cooker – I know that many people don’t like it and there are even those who are afraid of explosions. You make a quick stir-fry, throw in the tomato, cover the pan and you can go about your business while the contraption sizzles and whistles.

Is it identical to the recipe that forces you to spend all day on the stove? I am unable to say, as I have never subjected myself to that ordeal. All I can say is that the macaroni is really good.

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RIGATONI AO NAPOLITANO RAGU

Performance: 4 to 5 servings

Difficulty: easy

Ingredients

1 tablespoon lard or vegetable oil

800 g of beef and/or pork, cut into medium pieces

1 chopped onion

2 minced garlic cloves

700 g of tomato pulp (or 2 cans of peeled tomatoes)

150 ml dry red wine

500 g of rigatoni

Salt, black pepper, basil and grated cheese to taste

Way of doing

1. In the pressure cooker, heat the fat over high heat. Brown the meat pieces on all sides, without piling them up (work in stages if necessary). Reserve.

2. Sauté the onion and garlic. Return the meat and mix. Add tomatoes and wine. Cover the pan.

3. When the pan takes pressure, reduce the heat and let it cook for an hour.

4. Cook the macaroni according to package directions. Release pressure from the pan and adjust salt and pepper.

5. Mix the pasta with the sauce. Gather a handful of basil leaves. Serve pasta with grated cheese separately.

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