Story of the Lamb; The Conclusion

The Lamb Ragu, in a word, was wonderful. What can I say, I rocked on this one. (Allow me a moment to gloat). Ah, OK, I am better now. Before we move to the conclusion of the story, a brief digression. I must have way too much time on my hands, as I am not only blogging more than any month in the past, but posting multiple photographs of the cooking process. I guess I am inspired by my dear friend, Liz. I am also feeling good even though I am almost half way through my radiation treatments. And by the way, Liz... we set a place for you last night, but you didn't show up. Your loss I guess. We would have loved to have you come down all the way from Atlanta to share in this meal. (Grin)


As Paul Harvey use to say "Page 2: the rest of the story" .
When we left off on Friday, the lamb ragu was ready for the refrigerator, waiting on the final re-heat on Saturday. Before dinner could be served, the pasta had to be made. Just two eggs and 1 1/4 cups of flour, a little mixing, kneading, rolling in the pasta machine, and the pasta was ready to cut into 3/4" wide strips of pappardelle. 

Flour, Eggs and Cranking

The pasta was cut and allowed to dry until ready to use.

Papperdelle

It is dinner time. As the ragu was re-heating and the pasta water was coming to a boil, Frank made and we devoured a lovely Frisee Salad with walnuts in a light lemon and olive oil dressing topped with shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano. Quality ingredients, simply prepared... it doesn't get any better. 

The final touch: As the sauce was heating and the papperdelle was boiling, I added approximately 1/4 cup heavy cream to the ragu. There is a lot of controversy in Bologna over adding or not adding milk or cream to Ragu Bolognese. I opted on the adding side of the issue and feel it was a good choice. 


Let's eat!

The ragu had a wonderful richness and earthiness. The use of the baby bella mushrooms, IMHO added to the intensity of the sauce. And the addition of the cream added a smoothness. 


Delicioso !!!


Wine: From the Willamette Valley stash, Frank selected the Penner-Ash 2008 Bella Vide Vineyard Pinot Noir which was a nice accompaniment to the lamb ragu.


End of the story !