A plate of prosciutto wrapped grissini sticks, Sicilian olives and Paesanella’s mozzarella rocket rotolo kicked off this evening’s main meal. 

After returning home from the morning school drop off, I decided to make dinner well ahead of time. This meant I could at least tick that task off my ever increasing “to do” list, which included installing additional fencing to prevent my dog with “Houdini” like tendencies from slinking into the front yard and eating the camellias. 

I had defrosted a kilogram of pink tinged lamb mince and found myself peering into my fridge trying to decide how best to incorporate the few scant vegetables that remained before I replenished the shelves with fresh produce. Fennel, carrot, Spanish onion, Australian garlic, thyme…bingo! The perfect ingredients to partner with lamb in a slow cooked ragu sauce, to be tossed through wide silky strands of ribbon pasta with Parmesan cheese.  Best of all, the bulk of slow cooking would be taken care of by my trusty Ilve oven! 

My children adore fresh ricotta which in our family is a must with pasta. While on my grocery run later in the morning, I stopped by Paesanella in Haberfield www.paesanella.com.au This is the most pristine cheese store I have ever set foot into. They make and sell the most magnificent cheeses including full cream ricotta, which I managed to pick up whilst still warm and with a slightly sweet milky scent about it. 


Ribbon Pasta with Fennel Lamb Ragu to serve 8 people (this recipe can be easily halved if cooking for a smaller group). 

Ingredients
Extra virgin olive oil
1 Spanish onion finely diced
2 cloves of garlic crushed
1 medium fennel bulb with green fronds attached – finely diced
2 small carrots sliced into thin rounds
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 kg lamb mince
1 can tinned tomatoes
125 ml red wine
300 ml chicken stock (today I used a salt reduced commercially made chicken stock because I had run out of my home cooked stash in the freezer)
1 heaped teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
750 g pasta – use either a robust shaped pasta or pappardelle ribbon style pasta
fresh ricotta cheese and  Parmesan cheeses to serve

Preheat the oven to 150 degrees fan forced. 

In an oven proof pot (I used my cast iron Le Creuset), heat up about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and add all of the vegetables and the thyme, along with the salt. Sauté over a medium heat for 10 minutes until golden and glossy. Add the brown sugar and sauté for a further 3 – 5 minutes, taking care not to let the mixture burn. 

Remove to a clean bowl and add a small splash of olive oil to the pan. Increase the heat and add the lamb mince, stirring continuously until it is evenly browned. 

Add the pepper, the sautéed vegetable mixture, tinned tomatoes, red wine and chicken stock. Bring to the boil, then clamp on the lid and pop into the oven for 2 hours. 

You can toss this through any robust shaped pasta you please, but this evening we used a pappardelle ribbon style pasta which was wide enough for lamb ragu to cling to. Tip the ragu into the drained pasta, combining gently and then grate over Parmesan cheese and serve with the freshest, creamiest ricotta you can find. 

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