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W is for Wild Boar Ragu



This was my first time making Wild Boar Ragu, but it was a huge success.

Wild boar is one of my favorite dishes to get while visiting Tuscany, but in California, it is very hard to find the main ingredient so if you ever see it on the shelf, please give this recipe a try, or just substitute some beef, lamb and pork. I’d recommend using tough/lean cuts like chuck, shank, and butt. For the recipe conversions and different portions, check out my website.

For the Marinade
1kg Wild Boar
1 Onion
1 Carrot
2 Stalks Celery
2 Bay Leaves
3 Cloves Garlic
1 Bottle Chianti
Pinch of Salt

For the Ragu
300g Yellow Onion
150g Carrot
150g Diced Celery
Pinch of Salt
2 Bay Leaves
1-3 Cloves Garlic
25g Tomato Paste
Leftover Red Wine (Finely Strained)
1.5 L Tomato Puree
Cinnamon to Taste
Chocolate to Taste
Salt to Taste
Black Pepper to Taste

Recipe:
Wild Boar can be a little gamey. If you like that, then you can skip the marinade. I was basing this off a traditional Tuscan recipe I learned while in Florence that uses marinated wild boar.
Add the ingredients for the marinade into a large bowl and let sit overnight in the fridge.
The next day, strain the meat, pat dry, and brown on all sides in a bit of olive oil.
Remove the meat and add the diced onions, carrots, celery and a pinch of salt. Using the steam to naturally release the browned bits of meat.
After a few minutes, add the garlic, and tomato paste. Stir and cook for 2-3 minutes.
Add the strained wine from the marinade, making sure to skim any foaming impurities that may rise to the top as the wine comes to a boil.
Once boiling, add back in the meat, the tomato puree, bay leaves and water until the meat and veggies are fully covered. Simmer for 3-4 hours or until the meat is soft enough to easily pull apart.
I like to pull out the meat and shred it here. I think it has a better final texture when added back to the sauce.
Experiment with some seasonings here, I followed some recipes from southern Italy that sometimes pair gamey meats with cinnamon and chocolate, but rosemary and thyme are also good options for a boar ragu. Also add some salt and pepper to taste and remove the 2 bay leaves before serving.

#italianfood #pasta #cooking #wildboar

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27 Comments

  1. This was my first time making Wild Boar Ragu, but it was a huge success.

    Wild boar is one of my favorite dishes to get while visiting Tuscany, but in California, it is very hard to find the main ingredient so if you ever see it on the shelf, please give this recipe a try, or just substitute some beef, lamb and pork. I’d recommend using tough/lean cuts like chuck, shank, and butt. For the recipe conversions and different portions, check out my website.

    For the Marinade
    1kg Wild Boar
    1 Onion
    1 Carrot
    2 Stalks Celery
    2 Bay Leaves
    3 Cloves Garlic
    1 Bottle Chianti
    Pinch of Salt

    For the Ragu
    300g Yellow Onion
    150g Carrot
    150g Diced Celery
    Pinch of Salt
    2 Bay Leaves
    1-3 Cloves Garlic
    25g Tomato Paste
    Leftover Red Wine (Finely Strained)
    1.5 L Tomato Puree
    Cinnamon to Taste
    Chocolate to Taste
    Salt to Taste
    Black Pepper to Taste

    Recipe:
    Wild Boar can be a little gamey. If you like that, then you can skip the marinade. I was basing this off a traditional Tuscan recipe I learned while in Florence that uses marinated wild boar.
    Add the ingredients for the marinade into a large bowl and let sit overnight in the fridge.
    The next day, strain the meat, pat dry, and brown on all sides in a bit of olive oil.
    Remove the meat and add the diced onions, carrots, celery and a pinch of salt. Using the steam to naturally release the browned bits of meat.
    After a few minutes, add the garlic, and tomato paste. Stir and cook for 2-3 minutes.
    Add the strained wine from the marinade, making sure to skim any foaming impurities that may rise to the top as the wine comes to a boil.
    Once boiling, add back in the meat, the tomato puree, bay leaves and water until the meat and veggies are fully covered. Simmer for 3-4 hours or until the meat is soft enough to easily pull apart.
    I like to pull out the meat and shred it here. I think it has a better final texture when added back to the sauce.
    Experiment with some seasonings here, I followed some recipes from southern Italy that sometimes pair gamey meats with cinnamon and chocolate, but rosemary and thyme are also good options for a boar ragu. Also add some salt and pepper to taste and remove the 2 bay leaves before serving.

    #italianfood #pasta #cooking #wildboar

  2. Thanks for the description of flavour. There’s a supplier of wild meats here in Australia who only do wild-caught, pest species (which in Australia is venison, rabbit, boar and funnily enough, kangaroo). I’d hadn’t tried the wild boar as I wasn’t sure what to do with it or how it would taste but I reckon I’ll try it now

  3. My parents (germany) just get literally half a boar and half a deer from a befriended hunter every year. 60€ each. Thats insane value for the amount of meat – they bought a second freezer after doing it for the first time

  4. I'd like to point out that as a common rule in Italy, sauce should be paired with an appropriate pasta size. An hefty sauce like boar fits right with a very think and dense pappardelle (large tagliatelle as in the video) or bigoli (kinda like Udon noodles). You don't want anything thin and delicate like spaghetti or ravioli

  5. Wild boar is not expensive in the USA. America has three times the amount of boar as Italy. Since boar is invasive in America, a lot of meat results from the culling process. Hunters often donate a lot of meat to soup kitchens because they have such a large surplus. Wild boar bought from ranches is expensive. Funny thing about that though, ranched boar isn’t really boar anymore. Any pig will eventually become a boar when free of captivity. They grow hair and tusks and their muscle structure changes. However the reverse is true, taking a boar and putting it on a ranch changes the boar back into a domestic pig. It’s a strange process that is being studied. But even free range ranches will slowly over generations turn boars back into domestic pigs. For a swine to be a boar it must live out in the wild with no farming or ranching involved. If you’re buying boar from a ranch, chances are it’s not a boar but a pig.

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