Quick Ragù With Ricotta and Lemon
- Total Time
- 45 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- ¼cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 1medium onion, thinly sliced
- 2garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
- Fine sea salt and black pepper
- 1pound ground beef
- 2heaping tablespoons sambal oelek (or any spicy red-pepper paste)
- ¼cup full-bodied red wine, like cabernet or merlot
- 1(28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes, with their juices
- 8ounces plain or whole-wheat lasagna noodles (not no-cook), broken in 1- to 2-inch pieces
- 1teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1cup fresh ricotta
- 1lemon, zested
- Flaky salt, like Maldon
Preparation
- Step 1
In a large Dutch oven or pot, heat ¼ cup oil over medium. Add the onion and garlic, season with salt and cook until just beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking it apart with the edge of a spoon, until nicely browned but not completely cooked through, about 6 minutes. Stir in the sambal oelek. Add the wine and stir to release any brown bits from the bottom of the pot.
- Step 2
Add the tomatoes and their juices, crushing completely between your hands or with a potato masher. Cook over medium-low, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes begin to break down and the beef is cooked through, about 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper halfway through cooking.
- Step 3
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil. Boil the broken lasagna noodles according to package directions until al dente.
- Step 4
In a small skillet, toast the fennel seeds over medium until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove and crush on a cutting board with the flat end of a large knife or the bottom of a skillet.
- Step 5
Drain the pasta, add to the ragù and toss to coat. Divide among four bowls and dollop each generously with ricotta. Sprinkle with lemon zest, cracked fennel, flaky sea salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil as desired. Serve warm.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Sambal makes this a little garlic heavy for me. The hungarian paprika paste is a good option, as is the adobo from canned chipotles, sesame chili oil also works in 1/2 ratio. If you swap the lasagne noodles with spaetzle, fennel for caraway, this also makes a legitimately delicious riff on goulash.
I thought it needed tomato paste for depth and sugar to counter the acidic pepper paste. Added them both towards the end and it came out great!
For the chili paste I used Korean gochujang and it came out really well. Add a lot of flavor that complemented the fennel well.
I love the idea of doing this with spaetzle as a riff on goulash / gulyás (my Husband is Hungarian, so, you're speaking my language!). Just curious where you found your Hungarian paprika paste?
I’ve been making ragú with Impossible burger and it works beautifully. I’m not a vegetarian but generally looking to cut back on red meat. Brown it well and add a bit of garlic, rosemary and sage, and you’ve got the meaty bliss of Italian sausage minus the guilt of destroying the earth. Doesn’t work for everything, but really works here.
I used harissa as the pepper paste, since I had some in the fridge. It was delicious!!!
Amazing. Quick weeknight meal. I used Italian sausage, put the ricotta on the side to everyone's liking. This is a keeper.
Surprisingly layered for such a quick dish. The toasted fennel seeds and lemon zest were a brilliant finish. They conveyed the classic Italian flavors to the essentially ground beef base. The chili paste added just enough heat. Wouldn’t change a thing. May become a new standard for a week night very satisfying pasta. Rich T. Columbus Ohio
Made this recipe with spicy Italian sausage. Per the suggestion in the comment, I added tomato paste before the 30 min simmer period. It significantly helped to balance the acidity. Otherwise, I made the recipe as written. Its an intensely flavorful dish— very aromatic, and simple. Would make again. Next time, I’ll toss the noodles in honey before mixing in the ragu— I think some earthy sweetness would have been a nice addition.
Used 2 tablespoons of Sambal Oelek by Huy Fong Foods (green cap). It was delicious, but I will cut back on the heat next time. Lemon zest over the ricotta was a nice touch. Will definitely make again. Next time will use leaner ground beef, less olive oil for cooking the onion and garlic, and drain fat prior to adding the red pepper paste. Will add the olive oil right before serving.
I only had no-cook lasagna noodles so I added about half a cup of water to the sauce and put the dry, broken noodles into the ragu 15 minutes into the 30-minutes of simmering. It came out just fine. Made for a filling, very rich dinner.
Sure, I bet it would work! When I've substituted tofu for ground beef, I've had best results when I've frozen it, then thawed and pressed the water out of it. The texture works SO much better that way! I've also successfully used tempeh and bulgur as ground beef substitutes. Good luck!
We made this tonight and followed it exactly, no substitutions, and it was delicious! The ricotta, fennel, lemon zest, maldon, pepper, and olive oil drizzle took it over the top! Perfect, easy, weeknight meal!
Wow! We just made and ate this. Fantastic. I could not find sambal oelek, so I used some mild Harissa and an equal amount of tomato paste. Perfect for a cool, fall evening.
Thanks. I dislike fennel and swapping caraway for the fennel sounds like a great idea. I am still going to try the original version, though, just without fennel.
Made this with ground lamb, added some fresh basil. Fantastic.
Very good. Enjoyed by all 4 of us. I upped garlic and added some sugar to sauce. Otherwise exact recipe.
Ideal leftover/two meal dish
We love this tho I put in 2X as much wine, reduced for twice as long (bc I had the time)... and served over fettuccine bc easier for my kids to eat. Nice shortcut to a less complex bolognese... would absolutely cook again!
I’ve dubbed this “deconstructed lasagna”, and it’s a real favorite in our household. One modification, one tip. I make it with plant-based meat so it can be enjoyed by vegetarians and carnivores alike. I break the lasagna noodles in the box to avoid broken noodle bits all over the floor. Works best with a half box. So you can just take some noodles out to neatly break them up.
3/18/24: 4.5/5, really nice, slightly heavy though. Added spinach for some veggies
Delicious. Made exactly as written with whole wheat pasta. Ricotta lemon fennel seed maldon salt = chefs kiss. Great final touches!
Less spice
Made this tonight and it was loved by all. Even my fennel disliking husband. I had on hand mild harissa and a chili in Adobo and used that. I agree that the lemon zest, ricotta(dairy free), fennel and olive oil drizzle made it out of this world!
Made as recipe was written with exception of swapping in Calabrian chili paste for the sambal oelek and reducing amount to 1/2 TBSP not the 2 TBSP specified. Fun way to use spare lasagna noodles. But with so many recipes and so little time and calories to spare, not one to repeat. The take-away here for us to use again is the ricotta topped with toasted ground fennel seeds and lemon zest.
Followed recipe as written except for substituting gluten-free (chickpea) rontini fir the lasagna noodles. Excellent umami flavor.
3 T of heat maybe sit for a night very solid
I made this exactly per the instructions and used Harissa as my pepper sauce. It was absolutely delicious and sophisticated for a “simple” meal. I’d definitely make for a dinner party.
Mysteriously delicious, given how simple it is to make. I used veggie “meat” and “Paprika Tomatenmark” from the supermarket here in Berlin. Something about the lemon zest & the crush fennel seeds.
This was a delicious dish! I, like others made a few tweaks: Lug of aged balsamic at the end for a bit of acid along with 1/2 tsp of anchovy paste while sautéing the beef. I decided to mix the ricotta, zest and toasted fennel to add on top but only used 1/2 cup or ricotta for more punch. I also roasted cauliflower and served that with the noodles, pouring the sauce over. I used Chili Crisp for my paste. The next day was even better. Enjoy!
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