Slow, Simple, and Full of Soul
When you want a rich, meaty sauce that’s satisfies the senses, then pork rage with pasta is a great go-to recipe.
- Prep Time: 5 mins
- Cook Time: 2-3 hrs slow hands-off cooking
- Serves: 2 – 3
- Difficulty: easy
- Ideal for: batch cooking, weekend, crowd pleaser
A Proper Pork Ragù
There’s something deeply comforting about a pork ragù done well. No drama, no long list of ingredients, no unnecessary embellishment.
Just honest cooking that fills the kitchen with the kind of smell that makes people drift in and ask, “What’s that?”
This is the sort of dish that reminds you why Italian-style cooking works so beautifully — take a handful of good ingredients, treat them properly, and let time do the rest.
Why Pork Works So Well in a Ragù
Pork is often underestimated in slow sauces, but it’s a natural fit.
Diced pork brings richness, while lardons add depth and seasoning as they slowly render, releasing fat and flavour into the pan.
Together, they create a sauce that feels luxurious without being heavy.
As the pork cooks low and slow, it softens, breaks down slightly, and binds with the tomatoes and stock, creating that silky, clinging texture that coats pasta properly — not watery, not greasy, just right.
The Magic of Few Ingredients
This ragù works because it doesn’t try too hard.
Pork, tinned tomatoes, thyme, and chicken stock might sound almost too simple, but that’s exactly the point. Each ingredient has a job:
- Pork brings sweetness and richness
- Tomatoes add acidity and body
- Thyme gives a gentle, savoury lift
- Chicken stock rounds everything out and carries flavour
When nothing is competing, every element has space to shine. The result is a sauce that tastes far more complex than its ingredient list suggests.
Low and Slow: Where the Flavour Lives
This is not a rushed sauce. A gentle simmer on the hob is essential.
Low heat allows the pork to relax and release its flavour gradually, while the tomatoes reduce and deepen.
The stock slowly evaporates, concentrating everything into a rich, meaty sauce that tastes cooked, not just assembled.
It’s this slow process that creates that deeply savoury, almost comforting richness — the kind that only time can deliver.
Why High-Welfare, Pasture-Raised Pork Matters
When a recipe is this simple, the quality of the meat matters enormously.
High-welfare, pasture-raised pork comes from animals that grow slowly, live naturally, and develop real flavour.
The meat has a clean, slightly sweet taste and a better texture — it doesn’t dry out or turn grainy as it cooks.
Industrialised pork, on the other hand, is bred for speed and efficiency.
Fast growth, confined conditions, and bland feed result in meat that lacks depth and often needs heavy seasoning or processing to taste of anything at all.
With pasture-raised pork, you don’t need to hide anything. The flavour is already there.
Pasta That Deserves the Sauce
This is a ragù that wants a proper pasta — something with texture and grip. Pappardelle, tagliatelle, or rigatoni all work beautifully, catching the sauce in their folds and ridges.
Finish simply. Good olive oil, black pepper, maybe a little hard cheese if you like — though honestly, it doesn’t need much.
A Final Word
This pork ragù is proof that good cooking isn’t about complexity — it’s about care.
Care in choosing high-welfare meat, care in letting things cook slowly, and care in knowing when to stop adding and start waiting.
It’s humble food, cooked with intention. And that’s where the real flavour always is.
For a beef ragu visit here
Pork Ragu with Pasta
Ingredients
- 500 g diced pork (high welfare pork)
- 500 g lardons (high welfare pork)
- 1 x 400 ml tinned tomatoes
- 3 garlic cloves, minced or sliced
- 500 – 700 ml chicken stock
- 1 bunch of fresh thyme, chopped or 2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 tbsp fennel seeds
- 75 g unsalted butter
- 500 g pasta
Instructions
- In a deep pan with a lid, sear the pork and the bacon until it becomes nice and golden brown. Add the tin of tomatoes, garlic, fennel seeds and chicken stock and gently simmer with a lid on for 2-3 hours until the pork is tender.
- Once it's tender, use a wooden spoon to break the pork down a little more, then add the chopped thyme and some more water or stock if it's dried out a little. Check the ragu for seasoning, adjust if necessary.
- Cook the pasta as per the packet instructions. Add the cooked pasta into the pan of ragu, along with a few tablespoons of the pasta cooking water and the butter. Stir to combine the pasta and ragu to a lovely rich velvety sauce. Serve in bowls with some parmesan cheese.
