• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Salt Jar

Seasonal recipes for the everyday cook

  • About
  • Recipes
    • Appetizers
    • Breakfast
    • Dessert
    • Drinks
    • Entree
    • Salad
    • Sides
    • Snack
    • Soup
  • Lifestyle
    • Local
    • Events
  • Contact
    • Work With Me
You are here: Home / Entree / Gourmet Dinner Club | Northern Italy

February 11, 2018 By Sarah Leave a Comment

Gourmet Dinner Club | Northern Italy

Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe

Last night we hosted friends for a traditional Northern Italian dinner, with the main course of homemade Italian pasta with tomato ragu. This is our fourth Gourmet Dinner Club and it was Dan and my turn to host. Need a refresher? Here’s my blog for our first dinner.

I spent weeks thinking about a theme for this dinner. I wanted a theme appropriate for winter with warm, hearty foods. Plus, I’m always looking for an excuse to whip out the pasta roller. Italian was the winner! But specifically, Northern Italian. Northern and Southern Italian cuisines are entirely different. I did an entire project on the differences in my Food and Culture college class (the only culinary education I have). Here are the basics:

  1. Southern Italian = seafood, tomato sauces, fresh
  2. Northern Italian = creamy sauces, thick ragu, hearty meat, potato dishes

Northern Italian Ragu Dinner

The night started with Alicia and Danny’s tasty appetizers. Alicia made homemade focaccia crostini with homemade ricotta, braised white beans, and broccoli rabe. I have truly never liked broccoli rabe more. She also made prosciutto-wrapped gorgonzola bites for a tangy and salty contrast to the rustic crostini.

Northern Italian Ragu Dinner

I talk a lot about balance, right? To even out our hearty Northern Italian meal, Steph and Joe brought a fresh salad with feta cheese, tomatoes, peppadew peppers, asparagus, and cucumber. She is a dietician and my unintentional recommendation that she bring a salad was the perfect fit!

Fresh Salad

This pasta is a classic Piedmont dish, tajarin pasta (pronounced ta-yah-reen). Tajarin is made using egg yolks and has a yellow color, without the use of semolina. It uses a lot of egg yolks but is otherwise simple and easy to make using the Kitchenaid pasta roller attachment. It was fun to share the fine of rolling and cutting pasta.

Homemade Pasta

The ragu builds lots of flavor in a short amount of time, using beef stock and high-quality tomatoes. The sauce is great with veal, but ground veal can be hard to find or expensive. I opted for an Italian meat combination from our local butcher of beef, pork, and veal.

This recipe will make extra sauce, which can be used later in the week, sent home with guests, or frozen for later use. I’m already looking forward to using our leftovers later this week for a quick weeknight pasta dish.

Northern Italian Ragu Dinner

We ended the night with Jenn and Eric’s gorgeous tiramisu, a final glass of wine, and a lively game of FunEmployed (if you don’t have this game, GET IT).

Tiramisu

Northern Italian Ragu Dinner

Print

Homemade Italian Pasta with Tomato Ragu

Northern Italian Ragu Dinner
  • Author: Sarah
  • Prep Time: 2 hours
  • Cook Time: 5 minutes
  • Total Time: 2 hours 5 minutes
  • Yield: 8 servings 1x
Scale

Ingredients

RAGU

  • 1 1/2 lb of ground veal or Italian meat blend (beef, pork, and veal)
  • 2 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1/2 c finely chopped onion
  • ⅓ cup finely chopped carrot
  • ⅓ cup finely chopped celery
  • 2 cloves garlic, grated
  • 3 tbsp. tomato paste
  • 3 c beef broth
  • 1 container Pomi tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 container Pomi tomatoes, strained
  • 2 tsp. fresh parsley
  • 1 tsp. dried oregano
  • 1 tsp. ground nutmeg
  • ½ teaspoon ground pepper
  • 1/2 c freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
  • parsley, finely chopped for garnish

PASTA

  • 16 egg yolks, room temperature
  • 3 1/2 c all-purpose flour
  • 3 tbsp. oil

Instructions

MAKE THE SAUCE

  1. In a large saucepan or dutch oven, heat 2 tsp olive oil until hot and add meat. Cook until lightly browned but still pink. Add onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Cook until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes.
  2. Add tomato paste and stir until combined. Add wine, broth, tomatoes, and spices and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce to simmer and cook, stirring occasionally 1 hour. Season to taste.

MAKE THE PASTA

  1. In a stand mixer using the paddle attachment, combine egg yolks and flour until combined. While mixing, add oil one tablespoon at a time. If necessary, slowly add water to help the dough come together.
  2. Switch to the dough hook attachment and knead 3-5 minutes, until smooth. The dough will be dry but will hold together. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate 30 minutes to 2 hours.

COOK AND SERVE

  1. When almost ready to serve, heat a large pot of salted water to boiling. Press pasta using the roller instructions and cut into fettucini sized pieces. For me, this was pressed to #5 thickness.
  2. Add pasta and cook 3 minutes. Serve topped with sauce, parmesan cheese, and parsley, if desired.

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @salt_jar on Instagram and hashtag it #saltjar

Related Posts

  •  
    1
    Share
  •  
  • 1
  •  

Filed Under: Entree, Events, Lifestyle

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Hey! I'm Sarah. I am passionate about creating seasonal recipes for the everyday cook inspired by New Jersey farm-fresh produce. Read More…

Let’s Connect

  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Search

Featured By

Categories

  • Appetizers
  • At Home
  • Breakfast
  • Dessert
  • Drinks
  • Entree
  • Events
  • Lifestyle
  • Local
  • Resources
  • Salad
  • Sides
  • Snack
  • Soup
  • Travel

Footer

LET’S CONNECT

  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

FIND NEW RECIPES

Looking at lemon mousse in a glass with blackberries
Overhead of oval bowl with herbed potato salad

Pages

  • Recipes
  • Contact
    • Work With Me
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclosure
  • Gifted Items Policy
  • Subscribe
  • Instagram



I may earn a small commission for my recommendation and links to products or services on this site.
I only recommend products and services I truly use and love – learn more here.

Copyright © 2021 · Brunch Pro Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Salt Jar uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're okay with this, but you can opt-out if you wish.AcceptReject Details
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.

Non-necessary

Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.