Ida's Ragù Marchigiano Recipe
With a menu formed by multiple generations of family home cooking and an atmosphere of easy warmth and welcome, west London's Ida restaurant is a beloved neighbourhood cornerstone. Opened by Simonetta Wenkert and her husband Avi in 2007 and named after Avi's mother, on whose recipes many of the restaurant's dishes are still based today, Ida takes a personal approach to feeding people – where food and family history entwine. One of the restaurant's most classic dishes is Ragù Marchigiano, from Ida's native region of the Marche in Italy, with a recipe outlined by Simonetta below.
"A note before you begin. The recipe calls for a mixture of minced beef and pork, plus chopped chicken hearts and gizzards. Should any of these ingredients prove difficult to source, 100% minced beef or 100% minced pork also works, though it is no longer a Ragù Marchigiano at this point. Finally, the recipe serves 12, but the ragù lasts for at least five days in the fridge in a sealed container, and also freezes well."
Ingredients
(Serves 12)
1kg meat, ideally in the following proportions:
600g coarsely-ground beef (not less than 5% fat);
200g minced pork (Italian plain 100% pork sausages could make up part of this, or even entirely replace the minced pork);
100g gizzards, cut into 1cm cubes;
100g chicken hearts, cut into quarters.
2 medium carrots, peeled
4 sticks celery
2 medium onions, peeled
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 fresh bay leaves
150g tomato purée
800g blitzed tinned plum tomatoes (or Passata)
500ml red wine
salt and pepper
200ml extra virgin olive oil
Method
Cut the carrots, celery and onion into approximately half-centimetre dice (soffritto).
Pour the oil into a heavy-bottomed pot of at least 8 litres.
Add the chopped vegetables and the whole garlic cloves.
Cook at medium heat for around 15 minutes, making sure that the soffritto doesn't brown, stirring with a wooden spatula.
Add the chopped gizzards and hearts. Turn up the heat and cook for around 10 minutes.
Add 10 twists of ground pepper or around 2 level tsp of pre-ground pepper.
Add the minced pork and beef and break up with the wooden spatula or a large whisk.
Cook for a further ten minutes, regularly checking for clumps.
When you can hear it sizzle and feel it beginning to catch, most of the liquid has evaporated. Add the wine and stir, scraping any residue from the bottom of the pan.
When you no longer smell the alcohol in the wine, add 4 level tsp of salt, the tomato purée and stir constantly for three or four minutes.
Add the blitzed tinned tomatoes or Passata, and stir.
Wait for it to boil, turn down the heat and cover so that it barely simmers.
Use a heat diffuser if you have one, or place the Ragù directly on top of a large iron frying pan to prevent burning.
Cook for at least two hours, stirring occasionally.
The ragù is ready when you see reddish slicks of oil floating on the surface.
Read our interview with Ida's Simonetta Wenkert and Fiammetta Reichenbach here.
