Ragu alla Domenica

What is the first word that comes to mind when you think of Italy? For 9 out of 10 people: FOOD. The second word that may come to mind is probably FAMILY. When you put the two together, what is more representative of the Italian culture than Sunday family dinners? It seems to be the centerpiece of Italian life. Sunday is a day of rest and nothing else (except cooking). During my time here, dinner on Sunday nights is always cause for celebration. First, because the whole family gets together; i nonni, zia, zio, the kids. And second, because of the longgggg and delicious 4-5 course meal that will take place late late late that night. Sunday dinner starts no sooner than 9pm and finishes sometime after midnight. Although aperitivi, secondo, contorno, and dolce change every week, there is one course that stays the same: primo. Every Sunday, the first course is a big bowl of pasta ragu. Usually spaghetti or fettucine, but sometimes some penne or rigatoni make their way in there. Now for me this is a problem because ragu is a thick, hearty meat sauce, and well, I don't eat meat. Instead, my host family has kindly addopted a ricotta ragu sauce that is cooked seperate, especially for me. Since the family ragu recipe is treated as a top secret, the second best thing is to share the delicious (vegetariana) ricotta ragu recipe.

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Ingredients
Onion
Carrot
Celery
Olive Oil
White wine
Tomato paste
Tomatoes
Ricotta (drained)
Garlic
Basil
Salt
Pepper
Pasta

Chop onion, carrot and celery in  a food processor until very fine. In a skillet, heat the oil over and add the veggie mixture. Cook and stir, gradually adding some wine and tomato paste. Mix well to combine and eventually add in the tomatoes, basil leaves, salt, pepper and garlic. Break up the tomatoes, cover, simmer for 30 minutes, stir occasionally.
In another pot, boil some water and salt and cook your noodles according to directions (I like fettuccine). Once it's done, drain the pasta, keeping a little bit of water in the pot. Add it to the sauce pan then stir in the ricotta and toss over high heat.

Buon Appetito!