Ground Lamb Ragu Pasta (Traditional Slow-Simmered)

A bowl of lamb ragu sauce mixed with fusilli pasta.

Ground Lamb Ragu Pasta (Traditional Slow-Simmered)

A rich, slow-simmered ground lamb pasta with authentic Italian Ragu flavor, minimal chopping, and a deep comfort-food payoff. Perfect for letting simmer on and off all day.

Course Main Course, Dinner, Lunch

Cuisine Italian

Keyword ground lamb recipes, ground lamb pasta, ground lamb ragu

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 4

Total Time 4 10

Servings people

Calories 635kcal

Author Jamie

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ large white onion finely chopped
1 large stalk celery finely chopped
1 medium carrot peeled and finely chopped
1 pound ground lamb
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
¾ cup whole milk see notes for dairy-free
⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup dry red wine
1 ½ cups tomato puree
1 pound of pasta

Instructions

Onion: Add the butter and olive oil to a large dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot on medium heat. When the butter has melted, add the onion. Cook, stirring on occasion, for 3-5 minutes or until the onion becomes translucent.
Celery and Carrot: Add the celery and carrot. Toss to coat everything in the butter and oil and cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
Lamb: Add the ground lamb, salt, and pepper. Use a fork to crumble the ground lamb into small pieces as it cooks. Stir frequently.
Milk: When all of the pink color is gone from the ground lamb, add the milk and nutmeg. Allow all the excess liquid to bubble out, stirring frequently to prevent burning. You will know the excess liquid has left the pot when the contents of the pot look shiny and oily, and begin to stick to the bottom. This can take 15-20 minutes, so please be patient.
Wine: Add the red wine and stir to mix everything together well, deglazing the bottom of the pan with your spatula. Then allow all the alcohol to bubble out. Alcohol evaporates faster than milk, so this step will be shorter than the previous one. Once again, look for the oily sheen and bits of sauce sticking to the pan to indicate it's time to move to the next step.
Tomato Puree: Add the tomato puree and stir well, deglazing the pan in the process. Reduce heat to a very slight simmer -- low heat with just a few bubbles coming through slowly. Allow this slow simmer to continue for 2-3 hours, with the occasional stir. When the oil separates and the food begins to stick to the bottom, add ⅓ cup of water and let the simmering continue. After 2 hours, allow all the liquid to bubble out and the oil to separate. At any point during this process, use a spoon to skim off any extra fat/oil that you do not want in your final dish (see notes).
Pasta: Make the pasta according to the package instructions and reserve ½ cup of pasta water after cooking. Toss the lamb ragu sauce with the drained pasta using a wooden spoon or spatula. Add a little reserved pasta water, 1-2 tablespoons at a time, until you have your desired texture. Top with grated parmesan cheese or dairy-free parmesan cheese if you like.

Notes

As the lamb ragu cooks, continue to scrape off the little browned bits that stick to the bottom of the pot. Usually after stirring the sauce around a few times, the water will be redistributed in the sauce and this makes it easier to scrape off. So give it a few stirs before adding additional water.

Storage: Store leftover lamb ragu sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. For best texture, store sauce and pasta noodles or gnocchi separately. I recommend making the pasta fresh to mix with reheated sauce if you have the time.

Pasta shapes: For this lamb ragu recipe, I like fusilli, spaghetti, or pappardelle pasta. Do not use a super small pasta shape, like orzo or macaroni.

Pasta alternatives: This recipe also tastes delicious with gnocchi or polenta.

Dairy-Free: Use lite coconut milk in place of whole milk, and either dairy-free butter or extra olive oil as a substitute for butter.

Skimming off the extra fat: Ground lamb can vary significantly in its fat content. Most 1-pound packages are roughly 80% lean meat and 20% fat or leaner, which is an okay ratio for this recipe. If there are large pools of oil left when this recipe is finished, then I recommend skimming it off with a spoon.

Stop and start the simmering as needed: You do not need to complete this recipe all in one go. Once the ingredients are added, it is fine to turn off the burner if you need to leave or attend to other business. Simply resume the simmering when you are ready. Aim for a minimum of 2 hours of simmering, and complete the recipe within one day.

Nutrition