Recipes › Chilli Pepper (Mild) › Slow-Cooked Mild Chilli Pepper Ragu with Pappardelle
Slow-Cooked Mild Chilli Pepper Ragu with Pappardelle
A deeply savoury Italian-style ragu where a generous pile of mild chillies is slow-cooked with pork mince, tinned tomatoes, and red wine until it becomes a glossy, silky sauce that clings to wide ribbons of pappardelle. The chillies melt almost completely into the ragu, lending sweetness, body, and a lingering warmth rather than heat. This is the kind of pasta you make on a Sunday afternoon when you want the kitchen to smell extraordinary.
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Ingredients
- 400 g Chilli Pepper (Mild), deseeded and finely diced
- 600 g pork mince (15% fat)beef mince works equally well
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 brown onion, finely diced
- 2 celery sticks, finely diced
- 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 150 ml red wineuse extra chicken stock if avoiding alcohol
- 400 g tinned chopped tomatoes
- 200 ml chicken stock
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- ½ tsp black pepper, freshly ground
- 350 g dried pappardelletagliatelle or rigatoni are good alternatives
- 15 g fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped (optional)
Contains: sulphites, celery.
Method
- Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan or casserole over a medium heat. Add the onion and celery and cook, stirring regularly, for 8–10 minutes until completely softened and lightly golden.About 10 min
- Add the garlic and diced mild chillies and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chillies begin to soften and sweeten.About 5 min
- Turn the heat up to medium-high and add the pork mince. Break it up thoroughly with a wooden spoon and cook for 6–8 minutes, stirring and pressing, until it is browned all over with no pink remaining.About 8 min
- Stir in the tomato purée and cook for 2 minutes, letting it caramelise slightly against the bottom of the pan.About 2 min
- Pour in the red wine and let it bubble vigorously for 3 minutes, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan with your spoon.About 3 min
- Add the tinned tomatoes, chicken stock, dried oregano, bay leaves, salt, and black pepper. Stir well, bring to a gentle simmer, then reduce the heat to low, cover loosely, and cook for 1 hour, stirring every 20 minutes. The ragu should be thick and glossy. Remove the bay leaves.About 60 min
- When the ragu is nearly ready, bring a large pot of well-salted water to the boil. Cook the pappardelle according to the packet instructions until al dente, then reserve 100ml of pasta water before draining.About 10 min
- Add the drained pasta directly to the ragu pan with a splash of the reserved pasta water. Toss everything together over a medium heat for 1–2 minutes until the sauce coats every ribbon. Scatter over the parsley if using and serve immediately in warmed bowls.About 2 min
Tips
- Do not rush the initial softening of the onion and celery — this is where the sweetness comes from and it makes a real difference to the finished sauce.
- The ragu improves overnight as the flavours deepen. Make it ahead, refrigerate, and reheat gently with a splash of water.
- If your chillies have thick walls, a quick blitz of half the ragu with a hand blender before adding the pasta gives a richer, more integrated sauce.
Ring the changes
- Use lamb mince instead of pork for a more robust, slightly earthy flavour that works particularly well with a pinch of ground cinnamon added with the spices.
- For a dairy finish, stir 30g of finely grated Parmesan through the pasta just before serving.
Keeping it
The ragu (without pasta) keeps refrigerated for up to 4 days and freezes well for up to 3 months. Store cooked pasta and sauce separately if possible to avoid the pasta absorbing too much liquid.
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