Rigatoni alla Genovese | Genovese Sauce (2024)

The core of Italian cooking is simple ingredients that are given enough time and attention to shine. If you've ever watched a YouTube video of an Italian grandma making "sauce" then you know that it takes two days to cook down pounds of tomatoes into a simple and yet complex sauce.Genovese sauceis another Italian classic out of Naples.Lots of onionsandchuck roastare cooked down forhourswith a splash of wine and a soffritto. You wind up with a slightly sweet and richonion saucewith fall apart beef. As it's name suggests Genovese sauce is traditionally served overa large cylindrical pasta such as Rigatoni alla Genovese.

Equipment

For this dish, you are going to need a very large pot. I like using an8 quart enameled cast ironDutch oven. The cast iron helps keep theheatconsistent and even. There are 4 pounds of onions here so you are going to want something large enough to hold all of that plus 2 pounds of meat and be able to put a lid on it!

Of course, the normal things you need for making pasta as well (if you're serving it that way). A strainer and a large stock pot!

Ingredients

• Soffritto: This is just minced celery, carrot and onion. The onion will be covered on it's own for this recipe. Read more below about the magic of soffritto! You just need onestalk of celeryand one carrot, so if you have a bin at the grocery store that sells them loose check that out! I don't recommend adding any more. It'll start to become a more dominant part offlavorprofile when we are really just looking to add complexity. Pro-tip: Trader Joes sell mirepoix/soffritto pre-diced in their prepared foods section.
• Pancetta- Sauté the soffritto and the pancetta together and you'll get the caramelization faster with the fat from the pancetta. Can't find pancetta? Use a nice fatty cut of bacon.
• ChuckBeefRoast- Part of the beauty of Genovese is that it is delicious and cheap. I always look for a really pretty cut ofchuck roastthat is nicely marbleized with fat throughout. You're going to be cooking it down forhoursso it will be pull apart tender. Can't find chuck roast? Sub out rump roast, pot roast, or bottom round roast.
• Onions- Theonion sauceis what makes thisdishas they break down into adelicious saucewith acreamy texture! Don't go for sweet onions, plain ol'white onions will do and it will be sweet enough. BEWARE. Slicing this amount of onions is very painful. Pull out all of your onion slicing tricks for this one. I highly recommend a mandolin to make quick work of it. Kenji from Serious Eats recommendsthis one, which I love. I tried using afood processor, but the sauce wasn't as good at the end and quite a bit more watery. Just push through the pain and wear some goggles!
• Bay Leaves- Ok, you may be wonder if you really need these, but I promise you they really do addflavorand complexity! Don't believe me? Next time you make rice, add a bay leaf to the water. You'll be able to tell the difference.
• DryWhite Wine- You always need an acid in adishto round out the flavor, and this dish uses dry white wine! Personally, I keep a small box of white wine in the fridge so I can add it as desired to different dishes.
• Pasta- Thisdishis classically served with a large cylindrical pasta like rigatoni, penne, or ziti. Personally I love rigatoni. If you want to find out more about which pasta you might like bestcheck out this articleabout the difference between all three!Pro-tip: Reserve a bit of the pastasauceto add to the sauce if it gets a bit too dry or cooked down.
• Parmigiano-ReggianoCheese- In Rome, I went on a food tour where I visited a cheese shop. After I tasting all the different styles of parmesan... I will never go back to the green bottle of pre-grated again. Get amicroplane and a wedge of the real stuff. The difference in taste is worth it.

What is a Soffritto?

Every cuisine has it's own name for soffritto. The French call it a Mirepoix and in New Orleans they swap out the carrot for green bellpepperand call it the Holy Trinity. Simply mince roughly equal parts of carrot, onion andceleryand sauté them in butter or oil until caramelized, golden and starting to brown. At it's core, soffrito is a base of caramelizedflavorthat adds umami and richness that will elevate even your more basic dishes. InGenovese sauceit helps give complexity to a sauce that is basically just onions!Read moreabout all the things you can do with soffritto and why it's the base of so many classic dishes!

One thisdishis on your list of go to meals, you may be wanting to mix it up. If you'd like to get a bit more umami with ahint of tomato, you can add a teaspoon oftomato paste. If you're wanting a bit more in your face Italian flavor, add a few minced teaspoons offresh marjoramand thyme.

How to Serve

You've done it! But now there are a few things that you should know about the best way to serveGenovese sauce. Traditionally, the creamyonion saucewould be served over pasta. Then for the second course (or another meal) you would serve the meat on it's own.

When I first encountered this meal on afoodtour in Rome, they served it to me in a new way. For a few euros, I had a small sandwich of Genovese inside of bread triangles (I believe they called triangoli). My recommendation would be to serve it initially out of the pot over pasta with a small portion of the meat. Then use the rest of the meat for sandwiches with some of the remaining sauce. This is my grandmother's favorite way to eatGenovese sauce!

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