Wild Boar Ragu

 This sauce pairs best with pappardelle, but any pasta shape will work. This recipe was originally developed for wild boar, but works equally well with pork shoulder. Use a good-quality, medium-bodied wine for this stew.

Makes enough for 2 pounds of pasta

1 (28-ounce) canned whole peeled tomatoes
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 ounces pancetta, cut into ¼ inch pieces
2 celery ribs, diced fine
1 onion, minced
2 carrots, chopped fine
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 pinch red pepper flakes
3 pounds boar meat, trimmed, cut into 2 inch pieces
Salt and pepper
½ cup red wine
1½ cups water
¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

1. Process tomatoes in food processor until smooth, about 30 seconds. Heat olive oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until pancetta has rendered most of its fat and is beginning to brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Add celery, onion, and carrots and cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables begin to soften, 7 to 10 minutes. Stir in garlic, tomato paste, and pepper flakes and cook until fragrant and tomato paste and oil look rusty in color, about 3 minutes.

2. Pat boar dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Add meat to pot and cook until the entire surface looks cooked and is no longer pink, 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in wine, scraping up any browned bits. Cook until wine has almost entirely evaporated, 1 to 3 minutes, scraping up any browned bits that may have developed. Stir in processed tomatoes and bring to simmer. Simmer, covered, for 1½ hours, stirring occasionally.

3. Stir in water and return sauce to simmer. Cover pot partially and continue to simmer until meat is fall-apart tender, 1½ hours longer.

4. Shred most of meat into bite sizes in the pot using two forks, leaving a few larger than bite-size chunks. Off heat, stir in Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper.

We roast pork shoulder all the time, love this recipe!