Pasta with White Beef Ragù

📝 Ingredients

• 320 g dried short pasta (rigatoni)
• 400 g minced beef (5% fat)
• 1 brown onion (about 150 g)
• 1 carrot (about 120 g) + 1 celery stick (about 60 g)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp dried rosemary + 1 bay leaf
• 1 beef stock cube + 300 ml hot water
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 150 ml pasta cooking water
• 40 g grated Parmesan (30 g for binding, 10 g for serving)
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Sauté pan
• Large saucepan
• Colander
• Cutting board and knife
• Spatula

📖 Steps

1. Very finely dice the onion, carrot and celery into 3 to 5 mm pieces: this is the soffritto, the aromatic base of the sauce. Chop the garlic. Dissolve the stock cube in the 300 ml hot water.
2. Heat the olive oil in the sauté pan over a medium heat and fry the soffritto for 8 to 10 min, stirring often, until the vegetables are tender and translucent, without letting them brown.
3. Turn up to a high heat, add the beef and break it up with the spatula. Cook for 6 to 8 min, stirring from time to time, until the released juices evaporate and the meat sizzles and browns lightly: this is what gives flavour to a sauce without tomato.
4. Add the garlic and the rosemary, crumbled between your fingers, and stir for 1 min. Pour in the stock, add the bay leaf and leave to simmer for 25 min over a low heat, half covered, stirring from time to time. The sauce should stay moist: add a little water if it dries out.
5. Meanwhile, bring the large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta for 1 min less than the packet time. Before draining, scoop out 150 ml of the cooking water with a mug: its starch will bind the sauce.
6. Remove the bay leaf, then tip the drained pasta into the sauté pan with half the cooking water and 30 g Parmesan. Toss briskly for 1 to 2 min over a low heat, adding the rest of the water little by little, until a creamy sauce coats the pasta.
7. Taste and adjust the salt with care, as the stock and Parmesan are already salty, then season generously with pepper. Serve straight away on warm plates, with the remaining 10 g Parmesan.