This delicious Italian goat ragu recipe with olives and marjoram will convert any goat meat skeptics. It’s inspired by the Sicilian love of goat, and other ingredients you might find in the region.
Italian stye goat ragu with olives and marjoram.
Chef Alan Bergo worked under a number of different chefs from Italy, and those experiences deeply influenced his cooking. This recipe draws specifically on Sicilian influences of goat meat, pecorino cheese, a touch of hot chili, and Sicilian Castelvetrano olives, which are a bit milder than other popular olives like the purple kalamata.
How to Make Goat Ragu
Start by building a base of flavor with garlic slices cooked until they just begin to brown with anchovies. Anchovies are a secret to some excellent pasta sauces and add a special umami taste. You can omit them but it won’t be quite the same. Castelvetrano olives, fresh marjoram (oregano can be substituted) and grated pecorino are the other special ingredients that give the dish a Sicilian touch. Most of them can be found at your local supermarket.
Heating the anchovy and garlic.
Adding onions to the garlic and anchovy
Pass pureed, canned tomatoes through a strainer to remove the seeds.
The finished sauce.
Castelvetrano olives and fresh marjoram are two other special ingredients chef recommends.
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Serving Goat Ragu with Pasta
To serve the ragu with pasta like you’d get at a restaurant you need to toss the sauce with cooked pasta and warm it in a sauté pan. Add a knob of unsalted butter, some chopped parsley or fresh mint, then toss the pasta so it absorbs the sauce. This way there’s no pasta that’s undressed, which can stick together or not get dressed with the sauce. Once you try serving pasta like this you’ll never go back!
Finish the pasta by tossing fresh cooked penne with parsley, cheese, and a knob of butter.
¼teaspooncrushed red pepper flakesor more to taste
¼cuprendered goat fat or virgin olive oil
1 28ozcan whole peeled tomatoes
1cupmeat stockpreferably goat (water can be substituted)
½cupdry white wine
8ozdried penne or ziti pasta
2Tablespoonsfresh marjoramoregano, or ½ teaspoon dried oregano, rubbed between your fingers
For reheating and serving (optional)
2Tablespoonsunsalted butter
¼cuptomato juice or puree
¼cupfresh grated pecorino cheeseplus more for serving
Instructions
Goat Ragu
Puree the tomatoes in a blender, then pass through a strainer or food mill to remove the seeds (optional).
Sweat the garlic in the fat on medium-low until lightly browned and aromatic. Add the anchovy and stir until it melts into the oil.
Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes. Add the wine and cook until the pan is nearly dry.
Add the meat, stock, chili, oregano, salt, and tomatoes and bring the mixture to a simmer, then cook with a lid ajar for 1 hour on low heat.
Cool the sauce and reserve (it will taste better the next day) or serve with pasta.
Plating and serving
To plate the pasta and ragu, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Cook the pasta al dente, drain and combine in a wide pan with the sauce, adding the butter, and tomato juice or puree if the pan looks dry.
Double check the seasoning for salt and adjust as needed, but remember the pecorino cheese and olives are both salty ingredients, so go light.
Stir in the ¼ cup of pecorino off the heat, divide the mixture between 4 pasta bowls, and serve. Pass more pecorino at the table.
Notes
Ground lamb or goat works well, but finely chopped stew meat can also be used. Pick your favorite dried pasta or fresh pasta-penne is just a suggestion. Fresh marjoram or oregano is the best here, but you can add a dried bay leaf to the sauce if nothing else is available fresh.