A slight change.

We’ve always had a soft spot for Italy, after living there for four years, many years ago. I’m still a fan of Italian design as well as the culture and food. Some years later, whilst enjoying a holiday near Parma, renowned for its’ cheese and ham, I booked an afternoon cooking with a lady called Giovanna, in her outdoor kitchen. We made tagliatelle and ravioli (delicious) as well as a type of gnocchi using stale breadcrumbs – they weren’t great so I haven’t made those again. The one recipe I’ve consistently recreated is her version of Ragu – a meat sauce usually known as Bolognaise sauce in this country although it has nothing to do with Bologna 😉 The recipe on my website uses minced beef and pork, Giovanna added minced veal too which I’ve left out. I have made a slight change recently by substituting sausages instead of the pork, snipping them into small pieces with scissors . They break down easily and add flavour to the sauce, especially if I choose one of our butchers specialities, like basil and sundried tomato or garlic and fennel…perfect to add depth of flavour to the Ragu!