Ragu alla marchigiana (Marche-style meat ragù) is a slow-cooked sauce. You make it by combining three meats – minced beef, minced pork, and chicken giblets. Then you cook it in a tomato base with white wine and a small bunch of herbs. And as the name suggests, it comes from Italy’s Marche region. The central Italian region that runs from the Apennine mountains east to the Adriatic coast. This is the sauce that gets spooned over Maccheroncini di Campofilone IGP. It tastes so good, that the Marche region serves it on feast days and at Christmas.
Most people know ragù as Bolognese. But ragu alla marchigiana version isnt well known outside of the region and certainly not outside Italy. This is a real shame as it really is a treat. The added layer the giblets give makes this dish really stand out. They give the sauce a deeper, more layered flavour that no single-meat version can match. I suspect these were traditionally added to stretch the dish a bit further in lean times. But it never ceases to amaze me how people underrate chicken livers. Add a beef marrow bone into the ragu, and you really do get something very special. No wonder they eat it at Christmas.
Ragu alla marchigiana takes time. Three hours is the minimum and four is better. You must cook the ragu on a very low heat. People in Marche describe this with the verb pippare. This means’ to simmer so gently the surface barely moves’, just the occasional slow bubble breaking through. Cook it low and long and everything merges into a single sauce that coats pasta without sitting heavy on it.
If you can, get Maccheroncini di Campofilone IGP pasta. The pasta is IGP-protected, produced only in the hilltop town of Campofilone in the province of Fermo, with a strand width of 0.8 to 1.2mm. It’s finer than angel hair pasta. And it cooks in just one minute. Outside Marche and specialist online Italian delis, it can be difficult to find. But the best substitute is the finest egg pasta you can buy or make: taglierini rolled to setting 8 on a pasta machine, cut by hand as thin as possible, and served immediately.
Buon appetito! 🇮🇹
More Marche Recipes
- Vincisgrassi – Marche’s layered pasta dish with meat ragu, chicken livers, and bechamel.
- Risotto alla Marchigiana – a Marche risotto served with sugo finto, a meatless sauce that takes its depth from slow-cooked vegetables.
- Fava ‘Ngreccia – a Marche side dish of broad beans cooked with anchovies, capers, and garlic.
Ragù alla Marchigiana
Equipment
- Heavy-based casserole or terracotta pot
- Wooden Spoon
- Sharp knife and chopping board
- Large pasta pot
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion (finely chopped)
- 2 carrots (finely chopped)
- 2 sticks celery (finely chopped)
- 2 whole cloves (chiodi di garofano – optional)
- 500 g minced beef
- 250 g minced pork
- 250 g chicken giblets (hearts, livers, and gizzards – cleaned and roughly chopped)
- 1 beef marrow bone
- 1 glass dry white wine (approximately 120ml)
- 2 x 400g tins peeled plum tomatoes (crushed by hand)
- 200-300 ml chicken or beef stock (added during cooking as needed)
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 3 sage leaves
- 1 sprig fresh marjoram
- Small bunch flat-leaf parsley
- Salt and black pepper
- 500 g maccheroncini di Campofilone IGP (or the finest egg pasta you can source)
- 50 g pecorino marchigiano or hard caciotta (finely grated)
Instructions
- Warm the olive oil in a heavy-based casserole or terracotta pot over a medium-low heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery, and cloves if using. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have softened and turned pale gold.
- Add the beef marrow bone and turn it in the oil for 2 minutes.
- Add the minced beef and minced pork. Increase the heat to medium. Break the meat up with a wooden spoon and cook until it loses all its pink colour – around 8 minutes.
- Add the chicken giblets. Cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring, until they colour on the outside.
- Pour in the white wine. Let it bubble and reduce until the smell of alcohol has gone – around 3 minutes.
- Add the crushed tomatoes, rosemary, sage, marjoram, and parsley. Stir well. Season with salt and pepper.
- Reduce the heat to the lowest setting. The surface should barely move – just the occasional slow bubble. Cover and cook for 3 hours, stirring every 20-30 minutes. Add a ladleful of stock if the sauce tightens before the time is up.
- After 3 hours, remove the marrow bone, herb sprigs, and cloves. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
- Cook the pasta in well-salted boiling water according to packet instructions. Maccheroncini di Campofilone IGP takes 1 minute. Drain and toss immediately with the ragù.
- Serve with grated pecorino marchigiano.
Notes
- The ragù improves overnight. Make it the day before and reheat slowly over a low heat, adding a splash of stock if it has thickened.
- It freezes well for up to three months.
- If maccheroncini di Campofilone IGP is unavailable outside Italy, use taglierini or the finest egg pasta you can find. Roll fresh pasta to setting 8 on a Marcato Atlas and cut by hand as finely as possible.
