Can I make this Venison Ragu recipe ahead?

Yes! This is still delicious it is made, but as a general rule slow cooked venison recipes only improve with a day to rest in the fridge. This sauce also freezes well too, if you want to double the batch.

Can I make this ragu with beef mince instead of venison?

The flavours of this ragu are really designed to work with the flavour of venison, so if you're looking for a slow cooked pasta sauce with beef I'd recommend you try my Slow Cooked Beef Shin Ragu out our family bolognese recipe instead. However, if you can't quite get a big enough pack of venison to make up to the 500g for this recipe, feel free to substitute up to 200g of beef mince.

Do I have to add the butter to the sauce at the end?

I would really recommend it -- venison is quite a lean meat, so can be a little dry in slow cooked sauces without the right balance of fat. The butter helps give it a lovely rich mouthfeel!

Slow Cooked Venison Ragù

Description

This rich and delicious Slow Cooked Venison Ragù recipe is the perfect make-ahead friendly dinner, perfect tossed with fresh pasta and finished with a generous grating of pecorino cheese.

Ingredients

Scale

2 tbsp light oil
1 small carrot
1 small brown onion
1 small celery stick
sea salt
110g diced pancetta
2 large garlic cloves
500g minced venison
2 tbsp tomato puree
2 fresh rosemary sprigs
1 bay leaf
250ml red wine
250ml chicken or beef stock
200g chopped tomatoes (half a tin)
freshly ground black pepper
25g unsalted butter

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Instructions

Heat the oil in a large heavy bottomed saucepan or casserole over a medium heat until shimmering. Add the carrot, onion and celery, all peeled and / or trimmed and finely chopped along with a pinch of salt. Gently cook for 10-12 minutes until very soft.
Stir in the pancetta, and cook for a further 5 minutes until it no longer looks raw and the fat has started to melt down. Crush the garlic cloves and stir them into the pan, cooking for a further minute until aromatic.
Add the venison, and turn the heat up to high. Break the mince up as you stir into the smallest pieces possible (you won’t get it to break down as much as you will minced beef, so don’t worry!), cooking until the meat no longer looks raw, and has started to colour.
Stir in the tomato puree and cook for a further few minutes until slightly caramelised. Add the rosemary and bay.
Stir in the red wine, stock and chopped tomatoes, and season well with black pepper and a little more salt. Once the mixture has come to the boil, reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer, uncovered for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
When you’re cooking the pasta, just before serving, fish out the bay leaf and the stems from the rosemary sprigs. Then check to see if the ragu needs any more salt or pepper before stirring in the butter until it melts into the sauce.

Notes

Venison always tastes better the next day, so if you have time make it ahead and allow the flavours to develop in the fridge overnight.