Recipe: Esther’s Mutton Ragu Is Full of Rich Flavour and Made With Inexpensive Ingredients

Mutton was once more widely eaten than lamb in New Zealand, but nowadays it’s not commonly seen on restaurant menus.

While mature sheep meat is known to be tougher (and less desirable) than lamb, there are ways to tenderise it. And when you do, it has the added benefit of being able to stand up to other bold flavours in a dish. This is why it usually crops up in curries and stews.

QT Auckland ’s restaurant Esther is highlighting mutton on its new autumn menu, with a comforting pasta dish that makes the most of its robustness.

“Mutton has a beautiful rich flavour and hearty texture, and slow-cooking mutton on the bone melts through this sauce,” says Sean Connolly, QT Auckland’s food and beverage director, Sean Connolly.

Inspired by a trip to Italy, where this dish was first cooked for him, and evolved from a recipe featured in his cookbook My Family Feast: A World of Family Recipes and Traditions , this mutton ragu is heavy on flavour and light on the wallet. It serves 10 people, so there is plenty to go around.

His tip? “Making sure you reduce the sauce correctly is important – not enough reduction, it will be like water, too much and it will start to taste bitter.”

Sean Connolly’s strozzapreti mutton ragu with basil and parmigiano
Serves 10
Prep time: 45 minutes
Cooking time: 3 hours for the braise

Ingredients:

Sauce:
1 red onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp thyme, picked finely chopped
2 bay leaves
75g tomato paste
250ml white wine
2L tomato passata, (Mutti is the best)
50ml extra virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper

Mutton:
5kg mutton shanks or meat
4 bay leaves
4 garlic cloves, roughly crushed
2 onions, roughly chopped
2 carrots, peeled and roughly chopped
5L chicken stock

Pasta:
Pack of strozzapreti (or another robust pasta with thick tubes or ribbons)
Fresh basil leaves, to garnish
Parmesan, to garnish

Method:
For the sauce, combine the red onion, garlic, thyme and bay leaves in a saucepan and sweat gently until soft with no colour. Add the tomato paste and cook for a further 3 minutes.

Add the white wine and reduce by two thirds. Add the tomato passata and reduce until the mix is quite thick.

Simmer over medium heat then reduce to low heat and cook for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. While the mix is warm, season with salt and freshly ground black pepper and mix in the olive oil.

Refrigerate until required.

Pre-heat oven to 160°C. For the meat, season the mutton well with salt and pepper and brown evenly. Combine the mutton with the bay leaves, garlic, onions, carrots and chicken stock. Cover tightly with two layers of tin foil and braise in the oven for about 3 hours or until the meat is falling off the bone.

Remove the meat from the oven and allow to cool in the cooking liquor. Once cool, remove the meat from the bone and flake.

Pass the mutton’s braising liquids through a sieve or strainer and then combine with the tomato sauce. Reduce it to infuse the sauce with the meat's rich flavour. The stock used for cooking contains valuable flavour that should not be discarded.

Cook your pasta according to your packet instructions.

Combine meat with the tomato sauce and pasta, being careful with the consistency of the sauce.

Sprinkle with basil leaves and shaved parmesan, to serve.

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