Homemade Pappardelle Pasta with Meat Ragu | Tried and True Recipes (2024)

4.08 from 25 votes

Prep Time: 4 hours hours

Total Time: 4 hours hours

Pappardelle Pasta:

• 2½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs
• 3 egg yolks
• 6 tablespoons water plus more if needed

Meat Ragu:

• 3 pounds pork shoulder cut into 3 pieces
• 2 pounds bone-in beef short ribs
• Oil for frying
• 1 yellow onion peeled and diced
• 4 carrots peeled and small-diced
• 4 stalks celery trimmed and small-diced
• ¼ cup garlic confit or 1 head of garlic, peeled and minced
• 8 ounces cremini mushrooms
• 1 cup red wine or beef stock
• 3-4 cups beef stock plus more as needed
• 28 ounce can fire-roasted crushed tomatoes
• ½ teaspoon dry thyme
• Salt pepper, and crushed red pepper to taste

Start the Meat Ragu:

• Pat all the meat dry and season liberally with salt and pepper. Heat a slick of oil in a wide pot over medium-high heat. Add the meat, in batches and without crowding the pan, and cook for 5-7 minutes per side until well-browned all over. Transfer to a plate and continue browning the rest of the meat.

Cook the Aromatics:

• In a food processor, combine the mushrooms with the garlic confit and blend until finely chopped.

• Drain off all but 1 tablespoon fat in the pot, reserving fond and return the heat to medium on the pot. Add the diced onion, carrots, and celery and cook for 6-7 minutes until beginning to soften.

• Add the puréed mushroom mixture and turn the heat to medium-high. Cook, stirring often, for an additional 8-10 minutes until all the aromatics are well-browned and beginning to soften.

Cook the Ragu:

• Pour in the red wine and scrape up the browned bits stuck to the bottom. Bring to a boil and add the beef stock and crushed tomatoes. Taste and season with salt, pepper, thyme, and crushed red pepper. Bring to a boil and then add the meat and any juices from the bowl to the pot.

• Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 3-4 hours, stirring occasionally and adding more stock as necessary if the ragu reduces too much.

Finish the Ragu:

• Remove the meat from the sauce and shred, discarding any large pieces of fat. Return the shredded meat to the pot and simmer, uncovered, for another 30 minutes. Taste and season to your preferences.

Prepare the Pappardelle Dough:

• While the ragu is simmering, prepare the pappardelle pasta.

• In a food processor, combine the flour and salt and pulse until blended.

• In a separate bowl, combine the eggs, egg yolks, and water and whisk with a fork until fully combined.

• As the food processor is running, pour the eggs into the flour and pulse until a sticky dough is formed. You may need to add more water, a splash at a time, if the dough is too dry and crumbly.

Knead the Dough:

• Pour the dough onto a clean, floured surface and knead, adding more flour as necessary, for 8-10 minutes until the dough is no longer sticky.

• Roll the dough into a ball and wrap with plastic wrap. Transfer to the refrigerator for 45 minutes to rest.

Roll the Pasta:

• Set up the manual pasta machine at the widest setting. Turn the dough onto a floured surface and cut it into 4 equal pieces. Using your hands or a rolling pin, shape a piece of the dough into a rectangle and flatten it a bit.

• Run the dough through the machine set to ‘0’. Flour the dough liberally on both sides and fold in half and run it through ‘0’ again. Unfold the dough and flour again, if it feels sticky. Turn the machine to ‘1’ or ‘2’ and run the dough through again.

• Continue on, increasing the tightness of the roller, until you reach ‘6’ on the machine and the dough is about 26-30” long and you can see your fingers through it. You will make about 5-6 passes through the machine and you should flour the dough regularly to ensure that it doesn’t become sticky.

• After the dough has been run through at ‘6’, lay it flat and cut into 1″ wide ribbons. You may wish to cut the ribbons in half if you’d like your pappardelle to be shorter.

• Transfer the ribbons to a sheet pan to dry, flouring them as necessary to prevent them from sticking.

• Continue on with the remaining 3 pieces of dough and allow all the dough to rest for 10-15 minutes on the sheet pan.

Cook the Pasta:

• When you are ready to serve dinner, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pappardelle pasta until al dente, about 1-3 minutes. Reserve 1/3 cup of the pasta cooking water before you drain the pasta.

• Add the reserved pasta cooking water to the simmering ragu and toss the cooked pappardelle with the sauce. Turn off the heat.

To Serve:

• Divide the pasta and ragu between bowls and garnish with parmesan cheese, if desired. Enjoy!