Wild Boar Ragù Recipe (2024)

Recipe from Caterina Schenardi and Daniele Boldrini

Adapted by Jeff Gordinier

Wild Boar Ragù Recipe (1)

Total Time
3½ hours, plus overnight marinating
Rating
5(412)
Notes
Read community notes

In 2011, Jeff Gordinier wrote about Gradisca, in the West Village, where the owner Massimo Galeano wanted to serve the dishes of his Bolognese childhood. So he brought in his mother, Caterina Schenardi. This recipe is adapted from her and Daniele Boldrini, who grew up in Bologna. Ms. Schenardi is especially particular about the flour and egg in her tagliatelle, but here you can just use a store-bought version to go alongside, or use a noodle of your preference. —Jeff Gordinier

Featured in: Mama Is Chef’s Pasta Maker

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Ingredients

Yield:4 first-course servings

  • 1pound wild boar shoulder or leg, cut into 1- to 2-inch pieces
  • 1rosemary sprig, torn in half
  • 4garlic cloves, peeled
  • 2cups Chianti or other red wine, or as needed
  • 3tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1small carrot, finely chopped
  • 1small celery stalk, finely chopped
  • 1small onion, finely chopped
  • 1cup canned tomatoes, with their liquid
  • 2cups vegetable stock or water
  • Tagliatelle or other pasta, for serving

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

636 calories; 15 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 9 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 66 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 6 grams sugars; 35 grams protein; 110 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Wild Boar Ragù Recipe (2)

Preparation

  1. Step

    1

    The night before making the ragù place the meat in a bowl with the rosemary, peppercorns, garlic and enough wine to cover. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

  2. Discard the rosemary and garlic. Drain the meat in a strainer set over a bowl, reserving the wine. In a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, heat the oil until shimmering, and add the carrot, celery and onion. Sauté until softened, 3 to 5 minutes.

  3. Step

    3

    Add the meat and cook, stirring frequently, until all the liquid released by the meat has evaporated and the meat is browned, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the reserved wine and cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture is dry, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the tomatoes, breaking them up with a spoon. Add 1 cup water, reduce heat to very low, and cook, partly covered, at a low simmer for 1 hour.

  4. Step

    4

    Add vegetable stock and continue to simmer, stirring occasionally, until the meat begins to break apart, 1½ to 2½ hours. Remove from heat and, using a whisk or spoon, break the meat into very fine shreds. Serve, if desired, over tagliatelle or other pasta.

Ratings

5

out of 5

412

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

nancy Buchanan

What is the dollop on top of the pasta in the photo?

Hannah B

This recipe is very similar to the wild boar ragu that my husband ate plates and plates of in Tuscany. I have made several times and usually increase the recipe 2-4 times. I also double the proportions of celery, onion and carrot relative to the amount in the recipe, and take care to chop them very, very fine (sometimes I just run them through the food processor. With a quad batch, cooking takes all day and more tomatoes or broth is needed, but the resulting flavor is incredible!

Gerrit Lansing

In step 1 reference is made to peppercorns, but the quantity is not mentioned in the ingredients list. Thoughts?

scotch37

OK- Don't have access often to wild boar- but bought these at the storehttps://www.dartagnan.com/wild-boar-sausage/product/PSAWB003-1.htmlSo- didnt marinate overnight. sauteed veg and Garlic then added 1TB Tomato paste, then squeezed sausage meat out and browned. deglazed with wine used to rehydrate a bit of Porcini. added Porcini. added 1 cup chopped canned tomatoes. cooked an hour- added some stock and kept going at least half hour more. added 1/8 cup+ cream .S&P Toss Pasta Parm

Rbabecki

Thanks to Hannah B for excellent advice on increasing qty. Made using 5 lbs fresh wild boar stew meat from D'Artagnan. 2 cups Chianti was enough to cover. 10 x Carrots, celery, onions 2mm sliced, chopped in Cuisinart. 1 cup EVOO. Drying meat and vegetables took over an hour. Used 2 28oz cans San Marzano tomatoes, 5 cups water, simmered 2 hours. Added 2 qts vegetable stock & simmered ~ 4 hours. Served over homemade pappardelle. Yes, it's definitely an all day cook, but the flavors are worth it!

Adam

The timing in this recipe doesn’t seem accurate. Took over 4-5 hours to be able to serve

Ruby George Deliciously

We had fresh wild boar for this recipe. I followed the directions to soak overnight in wine and I’m glad I did. The process mellowed the gaminess and made a deliciously tender ragú. Like others, I doubled the batch and I’m glad I did! It’s important to chop the veggies by hand because using a food processor can turn the veggies into pulp and make the ragú too wet.

joe from Philly

it's a long slog cooking but entirely worth it. i omitted the chicken broth and used water instead. instead of a cup of tomatoes, i used a 14oz can. my wife loved it.

Sonya Nicaj

This is the type of recipe that presumes the cook has good skills and knowledge....season with salt and pepper even though it doesn't say. Pat dry the meat before it goes into dutch oven, it helps with browning and drying. Add a bayleaf to the pot. Cook longer than they say, and most importantly, don't cook with wine which you wouldn't drink.

Alexandra

Before you start this recipe, know that it takes much longer than indicated as the other comments suggest. I’m going on hour 4 and I would say my meat still is not tender enough. I am using a combo of venison and boar. Otherwise, it’s simple and soaking in the wine makes all the difference!!

Kristine in Somerville, MA

Due to the 5 star rating from so many cooks I had higher expectations. I thought this would be more savory. I did a triple batch since the shoulder was 3.4 lb, yet I didn't even add the cup of water in step 3. I still found the end product to be too much on the watery side. However, my guests loved it and my husband said it was our best dinner party ever. One question - I trimmed a lot more fat off the meat. Was that a bad move?

another home cook

Good base recipe! I should have seasoned the meat before marinating it. I used an 800 gram (~1.75 lb) fresh roast, chopped up. It took a long time to brown and needed more liquid than I expected, but it softened up well. Needed some umami but a splash of soy sauce woke it up nicely.

Sonya Nicaj

This is the type of recipe that presumes the cook has good skills and knowledge....season with salt and pepper even though it doesn't say. Pat dry the meat before it goes into dutch oven, it helps with browning and drying. Add a bayleaf to the pot. Cook longer than they say, and most importantly, don't cook with wine which you wouldn't drink.

Jeff Stopple

I can't find a whole leg, but high end supermarkets have ground boar in the freezer section which works great. I don't see how the whole peppercorns are supposed to work; how do you get them out again? Don't discard the garlic and rosemary, instead saute them in the olive oil before the vegetables, then discard. Food processor is great for the vegtables.

Rachel :)

Does anyone have thoughts on using ground wild boar? I haven’t been able to find actual cuts at my local stores.

Shannon

I order it and have it shipped

Jeff Stopple

I can't get pieces of wild boar, but high end grocery stores carry ground wild boar, which works great. I use coarse ground black pepper, not peppercorns, because I can't figure out how to remove them and I don't want to break a tooth. The rosemary and garlic can be sauteed in the olive oil (and then removed) for extra flavor. The timing is much too short at every step; this is an all day sauce but so worth the effort.1.5 tsp salt plus to taste at the end.

beverly

The photo looks like it shows ground meat, not shredded as the recipe suggests. Regardless, I used ground wild boar and didn't have to cook as long - let it simmer for a long time like Marcella Hazan's bolognese and it's great.

KBH

I followed the recipe pretty much exactly, but made the following modifications for a bigger batch: I used 3 lbs of ground wild boar meat. Sauteed up about 1 to 1 1/2 cups each of carrots, onion, celery. Used 1 - 28 oz can of whole tomatoes, which I broke up before adding. I cooked the sauce all day - about 8 hours total cooking time from start to finish. I needed that long cooking time to allow the sauce to cook down and thicken a bit. It was AMAZING!

Ruby George Deliciously

We had fresh wild boar for this recipe. I followed the directions to soak overnight in wine and I’m glad I did. The process mellowed the gaminess and made a deliciously tender ragú. Like others, I doubled the batch and I’m glad I did! It’s important to chop the veggies by hand because using a food processor can turn the veggies into pulp and make the ragú too wet.

Max Shapiro

I char the meat on the grill (broiler works too) before marinating it. I also use a lot more vegetables, but the recipe is a classic keeper.thanks

Sandy

I used ground wild boar which seems easier and was. I think the amount of liquid added is off. But I feel that way about all NYT recipes -- seems to be a gas vs. electric stove thing.

alec

How many peppercorns? Doesn’t say to take them out but also not trying to have people bite into peppercorns in the finished product please advise.

KML

Make a bouquet garni style bundle using cheesecloth to contain the peppercorns.

Max Shapiro

I brown the meat before marinating it. Dry it on a baking sheet in the fridge on paper towels over night first. Then overnight it in the marinate, except if I grill the stew meat, then it doesn't matter.

Kit

This tastes very sour after 3-1/2 hrs. of cooking. I added half a teaspoon of baking soda and a little bit of demerara sugar, and that helped, but it still doesn't taste that good so I'm going to cook it another hour and then add some cream. I am trying two different wild boar ragù recipes today - the other didn't involve a marinade and only included a cup of white wine and so far, that one seems like it's going to be the winner.

Steve

Young chianti can be very tart-cherry sour. Find a chianti you like drinking by itself, and use this as your wine base. Or go with a syrah/grenache wine - less Tuscan-authentic, but rounder flavor.

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Wild Boar Ragù Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the best way to cook wild boar? ›

Preheat oven to 275° F. Place seasoned wild boar leg on a foil lined rimmed baking sheet. Cook until the internal temperature of the leg is 150° F at its thickest part, about 4 hours. It is impossible to cook a cut of this size by time guidelines so using a temperature probe or thermometer is a must.

What is wild boar meat called in Italy? ›

If there was a single animal who seems to represent Tuscany, it would have to be Sus scrofa, the Wild Boar. Cinghiale, as it's called in Italian, is tasty (when young), so you find it on many restaurant menus.

What is a substitute for wild boar ragu? ›

Lets face it: unless you live in rural Italy you're unlikely to come across wild boar. So feel free to substitute another game like venison, or duck - or even use pork. You'll need to reduce the cooking times; boar needs a lot of cooking.

How do Italians eat ragù? ›

In Bologna ragù is traditionally paired and served with tagliatelle made with eggs and northern Italy's soft wheat flour. Acceptable alternatives to fresh tagliatelle include other broad flat pasta shapes, such as pappardelle or fettuccine, and tube shapes, such as rigatoni and penne.

How to cook wild boar backstrap? ›

Preheat grill to 375 degrees F. Mix the jam, soy sauce, and rosemary to make a thin paste. Rinse the pig and lightly coat in the blackberry mixture. Put pig in grill and cook, basting with blackberry mixture every 10 minutes, until the internal temp reaches 145 degrees F, about 45-50 minutes total.

How do you get the gamey taste out of wild boar? ›

To minimize the gamey taste, you can go one of two ways: Marinade it in milk (or better yet, buttermilk), and the other would be to marinade it in an acidic marinade- something vinegar based, or something with wine.

Does boar meat taste like pig? ›

If you think the taste of wild boar is similar to pork, guess again. Although the wild boar is related to the domestic pig, they do not taste the same. Wild boar tastes like a cross between pork and beef, with a unique juicy succulence. The meat is a bit darker, perhaps due to the healthy iron content.

Did Romans eat wild boar? ›

Game meat such as venison, wild boar, rabbit and pheasant along with seafood like raw oysters, shellfish and lobster were just some of the pricey foods that made regular appearances at the Roman banquet.

Why are there so many wild boars in Italy? ›

Renowned for the quality of its meat, its strength and voracity, Italian wild boar or "cinghiale" is a combination of the region's native Sus Scrofa and the wild boar introduced from Eastern Europe. Due to the absence of natural predators, the number of wild boars has risen and risen over the past few years.

Why was Ragu discontinued? ›

In order to maintain its supply to American stores it cut Canada out entirely. Ragu has never been a particularly popular brand up here. A typical supermarket with have an entire selection of canned and jarred sauces from several manufacturers in several different flavours.

What makes Ragu taste better? ›

Pungent fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary, sage, tarragon, and marjoram can liven up tomato sauce with their bold, distinctive flavors. Add 1 to 2 sprigs of one or more of them to your favorite sauce, cover, and simmer at least 5 minutes to allow them to infuse in the sauce. Remove the sprigs before serving.

How do you make wild boar taste better? ›

Marinating wild boar meat overnight can do wonders, as the marinade will tenderize as it imparts flavor. But cuts such as the tenderloin do not need marinating or slow cooking.

Do Italians put sugar in ragù? ›

Ragu Bolognese is of the region of Bologna as the name implies. This version of the sauce uses fresh vegetables, such as the sweetness of carrots instead of using sugar. I'm personally not a fan of using sugar in cooking most savoury dishes, hence why this version is my favourite.

Why do Italians put milk in ragù? ›

It sounds unconventional to use milk in a meaty red sauce, but upon further investigation, it makes total sense why Italians swear by it. According to our Food Director Amira, not only does milk add a rich flavour to the bolognese, but it also “helps cut through the acidity of the tomatoes and red wine”.

What's the difference between a bolognese and a ragù? ›

Ragu sometimes includes vegetable chunks, properly prepared Bolognese does not. Ragu typically uses red wine, while Bolognese calls for white. Bolognese uses very little tomato, while ragu sauces often feature tomatoes for most of the sauce's bulk.

Do you need to soak wild boar? ›

Prepare To Feast

Soaking butchered hog parts in an ice water bath for a day or two will mellow out the flavor and give the meat a lighter color.

What is the best part of a wild boar to eat? ›

LOINS & TENDERLOINS

These wild boar cuts are easy to work with and are tender enough that they don't need much work in the kitchen other than a short brine or marinade. They can be simply prepared by roasting them whole, cut into mignons, pounded into cutlets or cured and smoked for Canadian bacon.

Is wild boar better for you than pork? ›

Wild boar is a lean cut of meat with the great taste of wild pork without the fat found on your typical pork. They are not administered any antibiotics, hormones, or any chemicals or additives. Very hardy, unlike the pig, wild boar is not prone to illness or disease. Healthy animals become a healthy dinner for you.

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