Braised Pork Ragu

This Braised Pork Ragu is rich, cozy, and full of flavor. Pork shoulder is slow-braised in beer and balsamic until fall-apart tender, then tossed with pasta and parmesan.

📝 Ingredients

• 3 slices bacon
• 2 tsp salt
• 4 lbs bone-in pork shoulder or 3 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 3-inch pieces. Discard bones and an excess fat.
• 1 large onion, roughly chopped
• 3 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 3 large carrots, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 12 oz wheat beer
• 4 oz tomato paste
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 pounds cavatappi or rigatoni
• 1/2 cup cream (optional)
• pasta water
• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese

👨‍🍳 Instructions

1. 1Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. 2In a dutch oven, cook bacon until crisp over a medium heat. Remove from pan and drain on paper towel. Remove all the bacon fat except for two tablespoons, reserve the rest.
3. 3While the bacon cooks and the pork browns, add onion, garlic and carrots to a food processor. Pulse until it creates a paste. Set aside. If you haven't already, cut the pork into 3-inch pieces, discard the bones. Trim any excess fat and discard. Season pork on all sides with two teaspoons of salt.
4. 4Turn the flame up to a medium-high heat. Working in two batches (if necessary) brown the pork on all sides. This should take about 15-20 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Turn the heat down to medium.
5. 5Add veggies into the same pot, cook for 1-2 minutes.Add balsamic vinegar, reduce for 30 seconds to one minute. Stir in tomato paste. Cook for 1 minute. Add beer. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer 2-3 minutes. Transfer the pork back to the pot and cover with chicken stock. Stir to combine. Cover the pot with lid and transfer to the oven. Cook for 2-3 hours or until meat is fork-tender. Mine actually finished in two hours.
6. 6When pork is done cooking, remove from oven and shred with two forks. If you see any excess fat, discard. Tip: If the sauce is very loose, put it back on the burner and bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer until thickened.
7. 7Bring a large stock pot of water to a boil. Season with salt. It should taste like sea water. Add in pasta. Cook until just under aldente. Reserve 1 cup of cooking water. Drain the pasta. Pour pasta back into the pork sauce and toss with noodles over a low heat. The pasta will continue to cook in the sauce. If using, add cream. Add pasta water to loosen up the sauce. When it's your desired consistency, add parmesan cheese. Stir until melted. If needed add more pasta water to loosen up sauce. Garnish with extra parmesan cheese.