Vesuvio Rigatoni Pastai | Alfonso Iaccarino

Ingredients for 4 Servings

For 1 kg of Tomato Ragù

• 1 liter of San Marzano tomato puree
• 2 thin slices of pork loin
• 100 g of pork spareribs
• 1 slice of bread
• 20 g of raisins
• 20 g of pine nuts
• 2 sprigs of parsley
• 5 tablespoons of old wine vinegar
• 5 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons of white wine
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 small onion
• Salt to taste

For the dish

• 300 g of tomato ragù
• 260 g of Gragnano rigatoni
• 250 g of Campana DOP buffalo mozzarella
• 60 g of minced pork meat
• 50 g of shelled peas
• 30 g of bread crumbs
• 20 cl of milk
• 20 cl of basil sauce
• 2 eggs
• 1 small shallot
• 1 clove of garlic
• Basil leaves
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Method

For the Tomato Ragù

Prepare two pork rolls: divide the raisins, pine nuts, parsley, and chopped garlic on the two slices of pork. Salt, roll them up and tie with kitchen twine. Moisten the bread slice with vinegar and sauté it in a pot with olive oil until well browned, then remove it from heat.
In the same pot, sauté the pork rolls and spareribs with the whole onion (remove it when it starts to color). Deglaze with white wine, add the San Marzano tomato puree, adjust the salt, cover, and cook over low heat for at least a couple of hours.

For the Basil Sauce

Blanch about 40 basil leaves for a couple of seconds, dry them and blend with a bit of sparkling water. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

For Vesuvio Rigatoni Pasta

Soak the bread crumbs in about 3 tablespoons of milk. In a bowl, mix the minced pork, soaked bread, one egg, and finely chopped garlic clove. Season with salt and pepper. Form small meatballs from the mixture and brown them in olive oil.

For the Other Ingredients

Finely chop the mozzarella and prepare a white sauce: melt 70 g of mozzarella with about 5 tablespoons of milk in a bain-marie. The sauce should have a fluid consistency. Seal with plastic wrap and keep in a turned-off bain-marie.
Boil the egg for 7 minutes, then peel and finely chop it.
Sauté the peas with the shallot and 3 tablespoons of oil until they start to color. Cover and cook over moderate heat for 5 minutes.
Cook the Gragnano rigatoni in plenty of salted water for three minutes, so they remain very hard. Drain and dress with half of the tomato ragù. Keep the rest of the ragù warm. Preheat the oven to 150°C (302°F).
Prepare small pasta timbales: line the inside of four soufflé molds with heat-resistant plastic wrap, letting it hang over the edge. Place the rigatoni against the sides of the molds, tightly packed. Inside, add half of the chopped mozzarella, peas, egg, and meat slices. Finish with the rest of the chopped mozzarella (which will melt and hold the timbale together). Cover the molds with the previously hanging plastic wrap.
Bake the timbales in the oven for fifteen minutes. Unmold them onto serving plates, pour over the basil sauce, the mozzarella sauce, and the tomato ragù, keeping them separate to form a sort of tricolor on the plate. Finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and garnish with basil leaves.

The photo of Ernesto Iaccarino is by Lido Vannucchi.
The cover photo is by Sergio Coimba.