Ingredients
- 4 lbs (1.8 kilos) of mixed wild boar cuts, such as leg or loin meat
- 2 chopped garlic cloves
- 1 large carrot, chopped quite small
- 1 stick celery, chopped quite small
- 1 tablespoon, chopped flat leaf parsley
- 1 tablespoon, chopped fresh thyme leaves
- A small dried red chilli
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 1 tin chopped Italian plum tomatoes
- 1 cup light meat stock
- Olive oil
- Salt & fresh ground black pepper
As with all my recipes, the quantities are not a precise science, use what you think appropriate !
Method
Pre-heat an oven to 150 degrees C.
Cut the meat into bite-sized pieces.
Farmed “wild boar” meat can have a lot of fat attached so remove most of it, retaining some for flavour.
In a large frying pan warm 1 tablespoon of olive oil, add the garlic and cook gently for a couple of minutes to flavour the oil. Add the boar meat, increase the heat and brown on all sides. Season to taste with salt and pepper
Add the carrot, celery, parsley, thyme and chilli, stir well and pour in the wine, lower the heat and cook until the wine starts to evaporate, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and about half the stock, cook for a couple of minutes than put all the contents of the pan into a casserole or other ovenproof dish and cook in the oven for approx 2 hours.
Check about every half hour and if it is drying out add some more stock or wine, the aim is to cook the meat but retain a good quantity of sauce, the meat should be cooked to the point where it is really tender and falling apart.
(This will keep for a few days in the fridge or could be frozen)
Cook the Pappardelle or other wide ribbon pasta, mix with the sauce and serve with freshly grated parmesan.
If you can’t get wild boar, which in the UK is difficult, you can use pork but the flavour is not as gamey or intense. I tend not to bother if I can’t get the wild boar.