“I never thought I would ever eat wild boar, but was feeling a little adventurous when I saw it on the menu at one of my favorite restaurants. To my surprise, it was amazing! So, I decided to try to make it at home and discovered it makes for a fantastic ragu on homemade pasta and an even better filling for homemade ravioli!”

Ingredients:

5 - 6 pounds Wild Boar leg (boneless)

all purpose flour to dust wild boar

3 large carrots

2 red or white onions (I prefer red)

6 stalks celery

2 sprigs of rosemary (remove from stems if you like)

2 bay leaf

6 cups Port wine (or any red wine)

1 cinnamon stick

1 cup olive oil

2 TBSP tomato paste

6 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes

salt and pepper to taste

How to Make It:

Wash all vegetables, peel carrots, and chop into somewhat chunky pieces.
Combine vegetables, herbs, wine and boar together in a large casserole and refrigerate for 24 hours (see HELPFUL HINT below).
Remove boar from brining mixture and pat it dry with a paper towel. Salt and pepper to taste.
Next, add olive oil to a dutch oven or thick pan. Sprinkle the boar leg with flour and sear in the olive oil on medium high heat until golden brown.
Remove wild boar from dutch oven and set aside.
In a blender or food processor blend the carrots, celery and onion. Add to the dutch oven and cook for 5 minutes. Then add the tomato paste, bay leaves, cinnamon stick and wine. Reduce for 3 - 5 minutes.
Then, add chicken broth and crushed tomatoes and cook for 3 hours at medium heat.
Let rest 15 minutes before shredding it.
Serve over your favorite pasta (I like it with Pappardelle, Fettuccine, or Tagliatelle. Here is a recipe for homemade pasta that has more of an al dente feel to it after it’s cooked.
HELPFUL HINT: Allowing all of the ingredients to brine for 24 hours helps ensure moist, juicy cooked meat.

Wild Boar Ragu