Baraonda’s lamb ragu recipe is a slow-cooked success
I really love going to Baraonda on Roswell Road. Would you be able to get the lamb ragu recipe from the chef? It is my favorite, and I’d love to make it for my family. Thank you.
— Mircea Luca, Milton
Costanzo Astarita, chef and owner of Baraonda Ristorante and the Grazie Hospitality Group, sent the recipe for what he says is the most popular dish at the restaurant: lamb ragu served over house-made pappardelle.
“I think this is our number one dish because people love lamb and seldom cook it at home,” he said. “Ragu is a dish that requires low, slow cooking. It can’t be rushed.”
At Baraonda, they make the ragu with lamb necks, an ingredient that isn’t readily accessible for home cooks. Astarita suggested using lamb shoulder instead. We found bone-in lamb shoulder chops at our grocery store. When trimmed of fat and bone, four pounds of bone-in chops yielded the 2 1/2 pounds of meat needed for the recipe. Astarita said leg of lamb would be another option, but readers should not use ground lamb since the flavor that comes from searing the cubes of meat is an important component of the dish.
He recommends Cento San Marzano tomatoes from Italy and notes that, while you could use crushed tomatoes, the restaurant chefs prefer the texture of whole peeled tomatoes crushed by hand.
Baraonda’s Lamb Ragu
- 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 1/2 pounds lamb shoulder, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
- 1 sweet onion, finely chopped
- 1 medium carrot, finely chopped
- 1 medium rib celery, finely chopped
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup dry white wine, such as pinot grigio or an unoaked chardonnay
- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 (14-ounce) can Italian peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand (see note)
- 2 bay leaves
- 6 sprigs thyme
- 1 sprig rosemary, leaves finely chopped, stem discarded
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken stock, plus more if needed
- 2 anchovy fillets, drained and finely chopped
- Salt, to taste
- Ground black pepper, to taste
- 3 tablespoons minced Italian parsley
- Cooked pasta, such as pappardelle
- Grated pecorino Romano, grana Padano or Parmigiano-Reggiano, for serving
- Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. When oil is hot, add lamb and brown on all sides, turning with tongs and working in batches as needed. As cubes are browned, move to a platter.
- Add onion, carrot, celery and garlic to Dutch oven and cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables have softened, about 5 minutes.
- Return lamb to Dutch oven along with juices that have accumulated on platter. Stir in wine and vinegar and continue cooking until almost all liquid has evaporated, using a wooden spoon to scrape up the browned bits in the bottom of the Dutch oven.
- Stir in tomatoes, bay leaves, thyme, rosemary and cumin.
- Stir in chicken stock. Bring mixture to a simmer and cook 40 to 50 minutes, adjusting heat as necessary to maintain a simmer, until the sauce has thickened and the lamb is tender. If the sauce seems too dry, add more chicken stock as needed.
- Stir in anchovies, simmer 5 minutes, then remove Dutch oven from heat. Add salt and pepper to taste and stir in parsley. Discard bay leaves and thyme sprigs.
- Serve over pasta with grated cheese.
Makes 10 cups ragu.
Per 1 cup ragu, without pasta: 482 calories (percent of calories from fat, 73), 22 grams protein, 9 grams carbohydrates, 4 grams total sugars, 1 gram fiber, 38 grams total fat (12 grams saturated), 81 milligrams cholesterol, 267 milligrams sodium.
From the menu of ... Baraonda Ristorante, 6075 Roswell Road, Sandy Springs. 404-282-4380, baraondaatlanta.com.
Is there a recipe from a metro Atlanta restaurant you’d like to make at home? Tell us and we’ll try to get it. We’ll also test it and adapt it for the home kitchen. Because of volume, we can’t answer all inquiries. Send your request, your address and phone number to fromthemenu@gmail.com and put “From the menu of” and the name of the restaurant in the subject line.
