Hey dudes, how's it hangin'? Sorry I've been lax about posting, but it's quality - not quantity. Or something. Anyhoosers - this cinghiale sauce is something special. Traditionally it is made with wild boar, but since Trader Joe's was fresh out of boar, we used ground pork and beef. This is a Rachael Ray recipe, which is surprising because I'm usually not a huge fan of her recipes - especially for SND (too many shortcuts). This one is fantastic, though, so thanks Rach!
Start by heating a three count of olive oil in a large sauce pan, then add 3/4 pound ground pork and 3/4 pound of ground beef with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Break it all up and get it nice and browned, then add a finely chopped medium onion. Sweat the onion for a few minutes, then add one grated carrot and 4 chopped cloves of garlic. Stir all the veggies around , then add 3 or 4 sprigs of fresh thyme (take the leaves off, doy), one bay leaf, two nice pinches of all spice, and one tablespoon of unsweetened cocoa powder. I know, right? Cocoa in a pasta sauce? It's so surprisingly delicious - mixed with the all spice, your sauce becomes so warm and comforting. So mix in your spices, and cook everything together for five minutes or so.
Meanwhile, heat a large pot of water for your rigatoni. Salt the water well when it's boiling, then add a one pound box of rigatoni. Cook just to al dente, then drain.
Back to the sauce! Stir in 1/4 cup tomato paste (use a heaping 1/4 cup - I found that just 1/4 was not quite enough). Get that all mixed in and add 1/2 cup of dry white wine, 2 cups of chicken stock, and 1/2 cup milk. I used reduced fat milk - she calls for whole milk. Reduced fat worked just fine. Lower your heat and simmer for ten minutes - the sauce will thicken and get all delicious. Don't worry if your sauce isn't super thick - you're going to add the pasta to the pan and that will help thicken.
Discard the bay leaf and add the drained pasta to the sauce along with around one cup of grated parmesan. Mix everything together, taste for seasonings and enjoy!
I'm a huge fan of this recipe, the all spice and cocoa really gave an amazing twist to your traditional pasta sauce. Go do it now!
