Beef Ragout with Porcini Mushrooms and Penne Pasta

Ingredients

• 500 g minced beef
• 120 g epicure chianti & porcini wine reduction
• 25 g pot of epicure porcini mushrooms (pre-soaked in 160ml cold water)
• 1 medium onion (chopped)
• 4 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 1 celery stick finely (chopped)
• 400 g tin of chopped tomatoes
• 2 tblsp olive oil
• 1 fresh bay leaf
• 3 rashers of streaky bacon (finely chopped)
• 2 tblsp tomato purée
• 400 ml passata
• 400 ml vegetable stock plus the stock from the mushrooms
• salt
• ground black pepper

Porcini mushroom breadcrumbs

• 17 g porcini mushroom
• 40 g breadcrumbs
• 2 tblsp olive oil

Method

Rehydrating the mushrooms

1. Place the dried mushrooms into a bowl, then pour 160ml of boiling water over the mushrooms and cover with cling film to prevent steam escaping (set a-side for 30minutes).

Beef ragu

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium sized saucepan, add chopped onions, celery, garlic & bacon, cook for 5 minutes or until soft but not browned. Add the minced beef and cook for 5 minutes.
2. While this is cooking, strain the mushrooms (don't discard the water) and chop them into small pieces then add to the saucepan with the tomato purée, stir gently and cook for a further 5 minutes.
3. Stir in the strained water from the mushrooms, passata, tinned tomatoes, bay leaf, Chianti & Porcini Mushroom Wine Reduction and simmer for 30-40 minutes stirring occasionally to ensure the ragout doesn't catch on the bottom of the sauce pan. Then taste and season with salt and pepper.

Breadcrumbs and serving

1. Using a food processor, blend the porcini mushrooms until they are a course powder. Then heat the olive oil in medium sized frying pan, add the breadcrumbs and the mushrooms and fry for 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly until they are lightly toasted.
2. To serve, spoon the beef ragout into a bowl of cooked penne pasta, stir and serve with fresh rosemary a glug of extra virgin olive oil, finely grated Parmesan & Porcini mushroom breadcrumbs.