Venison Recipe with Ragu Sauce
Recipe for Venison Adapts Italian Favorite for Tasty, Hearty Meal
Dec 10, 2008
Deer recipes often depart from traditional or classic dishes, but here’s a recipe for venison that adapts an Italian standard into a game cooking chef’s masterpiece. Though many traditional recipes for ragu – often spelled ragout – pair just the braising sauce with pasta or polenta and reserve the meat for another meal, the venison meat in this recipe is a large part of its thick, hearty texture.
Venison Recipe for Pasta or Polenta
This dish works well with either pasta or polenta. One favorite is this cheesy polenta recipe. The cheese enriches the finished dish and, if there’s any polenta left over, it works well with a typical red sauce. Polenta is also a sturdy complement to the earthy venison and the zesty sauce. It’s a perfect meal to pair with a Chianti, preferably a riserva. If an Amarone is available, it’s a gourmet venison recipe to remember.
Venison with Ragu Sauce
Ingredients:
- 1 pint basic venison braise
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 medium carrot, diced
- 1 medium stalk celery, chopped
- 1 cup beef stock
- ¼ cup red wine
- 2 tablespoons steak sauce
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon dried basil
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 tablespoon butter
- Minced garlic to taste (optional)
Directions:
- Defrost venison braise. Reserve sauce. Shred meat with forks or chop to desired size.
- In olive oil, saute onion, carrot and celery until softened.
- Deglaze pan with beef stock and red wine.
- Add steak sauce, Worcestershire, tomato paste and herbs. Bring to a steady simmer.
- Add venison and reserved sauce. Simmer to warm venison, about five minutes. Ragu should be a thick sauce. If it is brothy, simmer until liquid is reduced to desired consistency.
- Adjust seasonings to taste.
- Add garlic if desired and simmer for one minute more.
- Reduce heat to lowest setting and add butter. Stir it in to melt and enrich the sauce.
Cheesy Polenta
Ingredients:
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons white wine
- ½ cup semolina or corn meal
- ½ cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
Directions:
- Bring stock and wine to a boil.
- Reduce heat to low. Add a pinch of semolina or corn meal to temper the stock so it doesn’t boil over, then add the remainder in a steady stream, stirring continuously until the polenta begins to pull away from the sides of the pan.
- Stir in the grated cheese and mix well.
- Coat the inside of a bowl with a small amount of olive oil and turn the polenta into it for serving.
Notes:
- For a smoother texture, puree the sauteed vegetables and reduced liquids in a blender or food processor before adding the venison.
- Some prefer to serve the ragu and the polenta side by side on the plate. Others prefer to spoon a base of polenta onto the plate, then serve the ragu over it.
- A shallow pasta bowl makes an excellent table service for this dish.
- Pass a small bowl of grated cheese at the table for those who may wish to top their serving with an additional burst of flavor.
- Consider serving with a gremolata as a topping to give this dish a traditional savory flavor profile and a brilliant finish.
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