Gemelli with Short Rib Ragu from The Lula Cafe Cookbook

Adapted from The Lula Cafe Cookbook by Jason Hammel

(Phaidon, US $49.95, 2023)

Photography by: Carolina Rodríguez

Pages: 184-185

Much like the vongole at Lorenzo’s, I’ve often wanted to serve my grandmother’s ragu at Lula. Evelyn cooked a slow-simmered Sunday “sauce” full of short ribs, meatballs, and pork sausage, always enough for both my family and my aunt’s family down the street. Like so many Italian-Americans, I have visceral memories of what it was like to walk into my grandmother’s narrow galley kitchen with the cauldron gurgling beast-like and crimson red over two back burners, rafts of pork fat and olive oil pooling on the surface. As it simmered over the course of a day, the colors of the tomato caramelized and deepened, staining the oil nearly black. An undercounter radio would play the Dean Martin standards that my grandparents danced to at the Italian-American club on Saturday nights. 

The times I’ve tried to recreate the recipe, despite the way the kitchen begins to smell like hers, the flavors never return. Like a photograph, my recipe for her sauce so close to real, yet is no substitute for the memory. From what was. One winter we tried a different direction with the short rib ragu, incorporating more rosemary, bay leaf, even a little cinnamon. We start the recipe by coating the short ribs in a rub of herbs, tomato paste, and anchovy, which my grandmother would have never thought to do. I love the way anchovy sharpens the woodsy pine of the rosemary, intensifies the browning of the ribs. We topped the dish with ricotta, a dollop which melts into the sauce as you eat. When I was a kid I’d sneak into the kitchen late at night to eat cold bites straight from the plastic container, hunting for morsels of short rib with my fingers. This recipe makes extra for those moments of late-night searching. 

INGREDIENTS

Serves 4-6

2 lb (900 g) short ribs, trimmed 

1 teaspoon black pepper
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 anchovies, finely minced 

2 teaspoons minced rosemary, plus 2 teaspoons finely chopped, to garnish 

1 tablespoon tomato paste
1⁄4 cup (2 fl oz/60 g) + 2 tablespoons olive oil
11⁄2 oz (45 g) pancetta
1⁄2 onion (31⁄4 oz/110 g), minced
1 carrot (4 oz/120 g), minced
1 stalk celery (11⁄2 oz/45 g), minced 

4 cups (21⁄4 lb/1 kg) canned (tinned) whole San Marzano tomatoes, passed through a food mill
Scant 1⁄4 cup (13/4 fl oz/50 g) red wine 

1 bay leaf
Small pinch ground cinnamon
1⁄4 teaspoon fennel seeds, toasted and crushed
Large pinch red chile flakes
4 cups (15 oz/420 g) pasta, cooked to al dente
2 tablespoons butter
Lemon juice, to taste
2 teaspoons finely chopped parsley
1⁄4 cup (21⁄2 oz/65 g) Ricotta 

Parmesan, for grating
Spruce Oil, for drizzling (page 246) 

Salt 

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C. Rub the short ribs with pepper, garlic, anchovies, minced rosemary, tomato paste, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and 1 tablespoon of salt, and place it on a sheet tray (rimmed baking tray) with the pancetta. Add enough water to cover the meat by a 1⁄4 inch (5 mm). Place the tray in the oven and roast until caramelized, approximately 30 minutes. Do not turn the ribs. 

Meanwhile, combine the onion, carrot, celery, and remaining olive oil in a small sauce pot, cooking over very low heat until tender, about 25 minutes. Do not brown. Remove to a blender and purée, then transfer the purée to a large stock pot with the tomatoes and simmer for 45 minutes.

Remove the short ribs and pancetta from the oven and add to the tomato sauce. Using a flat-edged wooden spoon, scrape any caramelized bits from the sheet tray directly into the sauce. 

Add the red wine, bay leaf, cinnamon, fennel seeds, and chile flakes, then reduce the heat and simmer until the short ribs are so tender that they fall apart with the simple prod of a fork, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Remove the meat, shred, then return to the sauce. 

Bring a pan of water to the boil and salt generously. Cook the pasta according to package directions until al dente. Transfer the cooked pasta to the pan of short ribs (reserve the pasta water) and continue to simmer for 1 minute, to meld the flavors together. Add the butter, lemon juice, parsley, and a splash of pasta water. Toss to combine and season with salt. 

Plate and top with the ricotta in the center. Grate the Parmesan over, then garnish with rosemary and a drizzle of spruce oil. 

Excerpted from The Lula Cafe Cookbook © 2023 by Jason Hammel. Photography © 2023 by Carolina Rodríguez. Reproduced by permission of Phaidon. All rights reserved.