Fileja with Lamb Neck Ragu
The Pasta
500g semola rimacinata
235g water
Pinch of salt
Mix the ingredients together and knead them until you have a smooth uniform dough. If the dough seems a bit dry, you can always add a few drops of water.
Wrap in plastic and allow to rest for an hour at room temperature.
Cut off a bit of dough, keep the rest covered.
Roll it out into long ropes about the thickness of a small pencil. Cut the rope into 6-8cm lengths.
To roll the pasta you’ll need a ferretto (a thin metal rod). A piece of a wire coat hanger or a long wooden skewer will do the job.
Take your ferretto and line it up with the pasta but offset it just a bit. The goal is to have the pasta wrap around the ferretto only once or twice.
Roll the ferretto and pasta away from you until the pasta is wrapped around. Gently remove the pasta by holding the fileja in one hand and twisting the ferretto with the other.
Finished fileja should be placed on a sheet tray with parchment paper and a bit of semolina.
Allow to dry for at least 2-3 hours in the fridge.
The Lamb Neck Ragu
1 large lamb neck (about 2lbs)
1 medium onion
2 stalks celery
1 small carrot
2 cloves garlic
1 sprig rosemary, thyme, parsley
1 cup white wine
300ml tomato passata
1 litre chicken stock
If you can’t find lamb neck, lamb shanks will work just as well.
To cook the ragu, a pressure cooker is ideal, but if you don’t have one, a dutch oven will do.
Make the soffritto: chop the onion, celery, carrot, and garlic very small using a blender, food processor or by hand. Set aside.
Season the neck generously with salt and sear it over medium high heat in canola oil.
Once nicely browned on all sides, remove and set aside. Drain off excess oil as well.
Reduce the heat to low, add the soffritto and a good amount of olive oil and cook for at least 20 minutes.
Make a ‘mazzetto’ with the herbs: bunch them up in your fist and wrap them tightly with twine (so they can be removed later).
Add the mazzetto, and lamb back into the pot and deglaze with the wine.
Once reduced, add the tomato and stock. Season lightly with a bit of salt.
Bring up to a simmer and close the lid of the pressure cooker. Once at full pressure, reduce the heat as low as possible while still maintaining adequate pressure. Cook for 2-3 hours.
If using a dutch oven, put into a 300F oven for 4-5 hours.
Meat should fall off the bone easily. Once cooked, remove the lamb neck and mazzetto from the liquid and set aside. When the lamb is cool enough to handle, remove the meat from the bones. Discard the bones and chop the meat to the size of your liking and add it back into the cooking liquid. The ragu is best served the next day.
The Final Dish
Cook your pasta in plenty of salted boiling water. While it’s cooking, heat the ragu in a large saucepan to a simmer. When the pasta is just about cooked, add it to the ragu using a spider (so you can save the pasta water) and continue to cook on high heat. You can add some chopped parsley and/or oregano at this point. Keep cooking until the sauce has reduced to the point that it coats the pasta nicely. Add a ladle of pasta water if the sauce gets too dry. Plate and enjoy with a generous dusting of pecorino.
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