It’s raining, it’s pouring and I don’t want to leave the house with little man – it all seems to difficult. Why don’t we just bundle ourselves up in tracksuits and warm socks and pop on a children’s program or two… It gives me the perfect opportunity to do some delicious slow cooking, which is exactly what we need for this veal and leek ragu!
I was lucky enough to stumble across a boneless shoulder of veal the other day and I thought, ‘how could I leave that sitting on the shelf?’ Veal isn’t every one’s cup of tea – but I really enjoy it and I often cook veal in the winter time.
Slow cooked veal with tender veggies can also be eaten by a growing little boy – who is becoming more independent day by day. He let me spoon about half a bowl of ragu into his mouth, before he demanded that I let him feed himself. So I gave him some bread to soak up the juices and let him eat the meat with his hands – all in all, it actually wasn’t too messy for him to eat.
VEAL AND LEEK RAGU WITH PAPPARDELLE
3 baby leeks
2 stalks of celery
2 carrots
2 bay leaves
3 sprigs of rosemary
2 tablespoons of butter
1 cup of white wine
3 litres of veal stock (you can use veggie stock if you can’t get your hands on veal)
1 boneless shoulder of veal
sea salt and cracked black pepper
pappardelle
Slice your baby leaks into 1cm rounds and add to a oven proof pot (which also has a tight fitting lid) with the butter. Toss the leeks, whilst you finely dice the celery and carrots and add into the pot.
Season your veal with salt and pepper and then brown in the pot. Once browned, add the white wine, stock, bay leaves and rosemary and then bring to the boil.
Place the lid on the pot and transfer into a 200 degree oven for 3 hours.
With 10 minutes to go, salt a pot of water and bring to the boil. Add your pappardelle to cook as per the packet’s instructions.
Remove the pot from the oven and use two forks to pull apart the tender veal – removing any of the fat and the rosemary stalks that you find. Double check your seasoning before serving.
