As the ragout season pasta, no one ever! We must admit it, if there is an emblematic dish of Italian cuisine it is him, the king of sauces, rich, greedy, to be collected with bread after finishing the pasta. But the meat does not like everyone or maybe sometimes you want to vary. So the sauce can also be prepared with the fish, with the vegetables, even with the seitan. Let's find out how.
The vegetable ragout
Every season has its own vegetables: in winter the Vegetable Ragu it is prepared with broccoli, radicchio, cauliflower, carrots, fennel, in summer with zucchini, peppers, aubergines. What are the vegetables you have in the fridge, cut into small pieces and put them to fry with extra virgin olive oil and a clove of garlic. Leave the vegetables crunchy, they should not be overly stewed or lose flavor. If you like, you can add tomato sauce, or even a spoonful of concentrate. Season with salt, pepper and basil. The smell of the vegetable garden on the plate … irresistible!
The fish sauce
With fish sauce means any sauce, white or red, which is prepared with fish cut into small pieces. It can be the grouper, for example, or the octopus, or the swordfish. But also the sea bream (maybe the grilled and advanced lunch), the tuna, i shrimp. Cut the fine fish and brown it with extra virgin olive oil and fresh garlic. The preparation is really fast. Add the white wine, then add, if you want a red ragù, of the past – not exaggerated in quantity or the tomato will hide the aromas of the fish – or the cherry tomatoes. Then add fennel, or parsley. With some ingredients, such as swordfish or tuna, olives and capers are also perfectly combined Sicilian.
The seitan ragù
For a 100% vegetarian sauce, but also vegan, you can replace the seitan to the meat. The procedure is exactly the same as a traditional ragout. Chop the seitan or cut it very thin and fry it in extra virgin olive oil with carrot, celery and diced onion. Add the wine and then add the tomato sauce. Add salt and pepper, add a sprinkling of nutmeg if you appreciate it. Cook for an hour on low heat.
The lentil ragout
For winter evenings, the perfect substitute for animal proteins is lentil. Also in this case it is cooked in the same way as the traditional ragout, choosing, if you have little time, the lentils red hulled, which are cooked quickly, otherwise the normal ones, to be kept in water one night before preparing the sauce.
The pasta is suitable for meat sauce
The juicy ragù go well with the homemade pasta, like maltagliati, tagliatelle or pappardelle. Those more dry instead with the short pasta: tortiglioni, penne, conchiglie.
