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History
Ragu napoletano traces to the Spanish viceregal period of Naples (1503 to 1707), when slow-cooking tough cuts in tomato became embedded in the city's cucina povera. It remains the Sunday centrepiece of Neapolitan family cooking, started Saturday evening to be ready by midday Mass on Sunday. The canonical restaurant versions today are at Tandem Ragu and Trattoria Nennella in the Quartieri Spagnoli.
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Common allergens: Gluten
Make it at home
Ingredients
- 800g pork spare ribs, chopped
- 400g beef braciole (thin beef slices rolled with parsley, garlic, pine nuts, raisins and pecorino, tied with string)
- 300g Neapolitan pork sausage or luganica, pricked
- 100ml extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion, finely sliced
- 300ml dry red wine
- 2 x 400g tins San Marzano tomatoes, crushed
- 1 tbsp concentrated tomato paste
- Salt and black pepper
- 600g paccheri or rigatoni to serve
Method
- Heat oil in a heavy casserole over medium-high heat. Brown the pork ribs, braciole and sausage in batches until dark on all sides. Remove and set aside.
- In the same fat, cook the onion very gently for 20 minutes until golden and soft, adding a splash of water if it sticks.
- Return the meat to the pan. Add wine and let it bubble hard for 3 minutes.
- Stir in crushed tomatoes and tomato paste. Season. Bring to a bare simmer, cover with the lid left slightly ajar and cook for 4 to 6 hours, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is deep red and the fat has risen in orange pools.
- Remove the meat; it is served separately or pulled off the bone as a second course. Cook pasta in boiling salted water, drain, toss with the sauce and serve.
Tip from the editors. The ragu is better the day after it is made; reheat gently and stir in a ladleful of pasta water to loosen.
Where to eat ragu napoletano
Ragu Napoletano in Naples
Tandem Ragu ★ 4.2
Tandem on Via Paladino in Naples is the modern ragu specialist that runs seven rooms on separate streets, with the Sunday-ragu ritual available daily.
OrderPaccheri al ragu napoletano with bread to mop the sauce.
Why locals goSeven rooms on separate streets across the centro storico run the same ragu napoletano carte from noon to midnight.
TipNo bookings; arrive 12:30 or 19:30. The paccheri al ragu is 6 euros; bread for mopping is included.
Mimi alla Ferrovia ★ 4.1
Mimi alla Ferrovia near Naples Central Station has cooked Neapolitan classics since 1943, with linguine all'astice the dish Sophia Loren and city politicians.
Book2 weeks ahead
TipClosed Sunday all day. Book a fortnight ahead via the website for weekends; the lobster pasta runs around 35 euros.
Trattoria Nennella ★ 4.5
Nennella in Naples' Quartieri Spagnoli runs a 12-euro three-course lunch with shouted orders, pasta e patate con provola and the daily Quartieri Spagnoli.
TryThree-course working-class lunch
TipCash only. Arrive by 12:00 for lunch or 19:00 for dinner; no bookings.
Osteria Donna Teresa ★ 4.3
Osteria Donna Teresa in Naples' Vomero has run a verbal daily menu since 1913, with no printed carte and no signage, serving Vomero workers a 12-euro.
OrderMeatballs al sugo and pasta e patate con provola; ask the server about the daily fish.
Why locals goOn a Vomero backstreet (Via Kerbaker 58) far from the tourist circuits, Donna Teresa has run since 1913 on a verbal menu dictated daily.
TipClosed Sunday. Arrive by 13:00 for lunch and ask the server what is on today; the meatballs and anchovies are the constants.
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