Today, one of NYC’s best Italian chefs, Stefano Secchi, demonstrates how he cooks the perfect Ragu. Secchi has mastered the art of Italian cooking as Executive Chef at Massara in NYC, but even top chefs still love the classic dishes you can make at home.
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00:00Hi, I'm Stefano Secchi, the executive chef of Massara here in New York City.
00:11We're making what I think is the perfect sausage ragu from southern Italia with corteche pasta.
00:16Fire it up.
00:21We've had Res Dora here for about five and a half years.
00:24We were able to get a few stars here and there.
00:27We're kind of doing it like next level southern Italian food here at Massara.
00:30It's going to be amazing.
00:32Today we're making a sausage ragu in bianca with a little bit of prosciutto inside.
00:36Ragu is meat-based.
00:38It's a sauce for pasta for the most part.
00:40This dish at its best is the saltiness of the sausage.
00:42You have the chewiness of the pasta.
00:44You have the parmigiano-reggiano, the creaminess of that.
00:46And then you have this like really beautiful bitterness that comes from the broccoli rabe.
00:50So the first thing we're going to do is we're going to get our sausage ready and start browning off our sausage.
00:53So since we do a decent amount of production here, I usually take a sheet tray.
01:00We just take a half sheet tray.
01:02Add a little bit of neutral oil.
01:04We have sunflower oil here, right?
01:06And I'm going to oil the base of this sheet tray.
01:09So when people think of sausage, they think about sausage in the casing.
01:11We actually buy our sausages in bulk.
01:13It's pork shoulder with pepper, a little bit of garlic, peperoncino, which makes it a little
01:19bit spicy, fennel, and salt, okay?
01:23It's better than the sausage in the casing, so you have to open the casings one by one
01:25to make this ragu, right?
01:27Ten ounce Mike Tyson glove, right?
01:29That's going to go in and help to press down the sausage, okay?
01:34We want to create like surface area, right?
01:38It's actually a fish weight.
01:40It actually works really well.
01:41You can use the bottom of a pot.
01:43So again, neutral oil.
01:45We don't want to use extra virgin olive oil because we need something with a really high
01:48smoke point, right?
01:49So I have sunflower here.
01:50We use sunflower a lot in Italia.
01:56Like the more surface area, the more maillard reaction you have in the actual ragu at the
02:00end of the day.
02:01So that's why we want to have the most amount of surface area possible, and that's why we
02:04flattened out the sausage, okay?
02:07You can easily do it in a stock pot like this, like we have back here.
02:10You just have to do it in smaller batches.
02:13We do it this way because at the restaurant, we do almost 20 pounds of sausage at a time.
02:19That's the right move for this ragu because it's nice and fatty, so then we'll re-emulsify
02:22that into the sauce before we serve it with the pasta.
02:26The right amount of browning is like what we're looking for right here, right?
02:29This little section right here.
02:31It's not cooked through at this point.
02:32It's cooked about 50%.
02:34Okay, so we browned off the sausage.
02:36We're going to get this downstairs and get it mixed up in the stand-up mixer with half
02:40of the weight and prosciutto di parma.
02:43Sausage is going right inside the mixer, okay?
02:47You can do it by hand.
02:48In the beginning, we used to just take a wooden spoon, and it became way too tedious.
02:53So then I also have, we have prosciutto di parma 24 meses, 24-month prosciutto di parma.
02:57It's going to go right inside with the sausage.
02:59I mean, just think about when you have sliced prosciutto with mozzarella, just think about
03:03what it adds.
03:04It's just next-level richness, right?
03:09We mix this so we can just break it all apart, right?
03:12So when you're saucing, you'll see later when we make the actual pasta and put it all together
03:16that there aren't big chunks of sausage as part of the ragu, right?
03:19It's one, like, nice, mixed, homogenized ragu.
03:22We're going to let this mix for another 10 minutes, and then it's going to go right into
03:25our soffritto upstairs.
03:27So the soffritto is the depth of flavor, like that vegetable flavor that gives that depth
03:32of the ragu.
03:33We're doing a soffritto bianco here, which is a white soffritto, which means no carrots
03:38at all.
03:39One of the big secrets at Masara and Rasdora is that we blend it until it's fully emulsified,
03:43and so when it melts into the ragu, you don't even know it's there.
03:46So our soffritto bianco consists of equal parts yellow onion, we have shallot, and we
03:52have green onion, cipollotto, we say it in Italian, and then celery, right?
03:57So I also use the celery leaves because the celery leaves are just as important, and then
04:01we have extra virgin olive oil, so again, everything is going to go in at the same time.
04:05To have it emulsify with your ragu is one of the things that makes our ragus here, you
04:11know, really incredible.
04:12What I usually do is I'll blend a lot of this, and then we have ice cube trays in our
04:16freezer, and I'll just put the soffritto in each one of the ice cube trays, they'll go
04:19inside the freezer, and then when I want to make a quick ragu or a quick salsa pomodoro
04:22or something, I'll just pop out the ice cube trays, and then I'll just cook the soffritto
04:26there.
04:27If you're looking for an incredible restaurant-style quality, then this is one of those integral
04:33parts that you don't want to skip.
04:34Okay, so this is blended, and now we're just going to cook it down.
04:37I have the same pan that we cooked the sausage in, we have the fond on the bottom there,
04:42which are all the brown pieces.
04:43We're going to add a little bit more of extra virgin olive oil, okay?
04:52You guys smell that?
04:53I mean, it's unbelievable, right?
04:56Right?
05:02So it has to be cooked so we can cook the alliums, the Spanish onion, the shallot, to
05:06bring even more depth of flavor, right?
05:08And we also want to scrape off the fond at the bottom, and then imagine this melting
05:14into the ragu, right?
05:19So now, a lot of white wine, okay?
05:21So almost a full liter of vino bianco.
05:26The ragu is pretty fatty, right?
05:27So you need the acidity in the background to kind of cut through all the fat, and so
05:32when you have that white wine, you reduce it, and you have this syrup of rich acidity
05:36that's going to add the balance of the flavor for the ragu.
05:40So this is going to cook for another 10 minutes until the white wine's fully reduced.
05:48Our sofrito's cooked down with our white wine.
05:50You see how the white wine is pretty much all but reduced right now, right?
05:52So that's like an intense acidity, right?
05:54We have the sausage and the prosciutto that has been mixed together really well.
05:59Chicken stock is going to go right inside as well.
06:03So chicken stock is just going to add that next layer of flavor, right?
06:07And you have a lot of gelatin inside.
06:08It's just really, really delicious, okay?
06:10So you break up the sausage slightly, okay?
06:12And what I have is we have a lot of parmigiano-reggiano that we use in the restaurant.
06:16That's going to go.
06:17All the rinds are in cheesecloth right now.
06:20You have this like really intense stock with this flavor of parmigiano that is one of those
06:24things that just, how do you get that next level of flavor?
06:27This parmigiano, again, has been sitting in Emilia-Romagna, section of Emilia-Romagna,
06:3124 months, right?
06:33Two years of people's lives this has been sitting.
06:36And so this flavor is really intense.
06:39And then we're going to cook it really, really slow for the next 10 hours.
06:43So we have to get this on, you know, what is it like 9.30, 10 a.m. right now?
06:48We have to get this on because this has got to cook all the way until we get to service
06:51at 5 p.m. today, right?
06:53So we let it cook for 10 hours and that will give us time to start rolling our pasta downstairs.
06:59You want to make your own pasta here because this is one of the doughs that's so easy to
07:03make, but also so satisfying that you have this like extra chew.
07:06So I'm going to start semolina.
07:09We get semolina rimacinata, which means that it's not coarse semolina, but it's semolina
07:12that's been passed again through the mill.
07:15Semolina is a durum-based flour.
07:19And then we have doppio zero.
07:21Doppio zero, again, is soft wheat flour, both of which are pretty fine grinds, have
07:26really nice mouth texture.
07:28OK, we're making the well and I have aqua calda.
07:31So this needs to be hot water, OK?
07:34Because why?
07:35Hot water is easier for the dough to hydrate.
07:37And listen, you can easily do this in a bowl or whatever you want, whatever is easiest
07:42for you guys.
07:43I always start that way and that's a good trick for anyone at home.
07:46I always add a little bit of water at a time because each flour hydrates differently.
07:51So now I'm going to start working it really well.
07:53OK.
07:54Uno, due tre, gira, turn.
07:56One, two, three, turn.
07:58OK.
07:59One, two, three, turn.
08:01What we're doing right now is we're just creating all the gluten, right?
08:04And you can see how, especially with the semolina, it's starting to get much more difficult to
08:09knead, right?
08:10It's hydrating.
08:11You're developing the gluten, the proteins, natural proteins in the dough.
08:16We always do a thumb test.
08:18And when it bounces back right away, it's ready.
08:21Yes, it bounced back because there's gluten developed, but not enough, right?
08:24So I'm going to continue for another three or four minutes.
08:28OK.
08:32OK, let's fold it over again.
08:36Tanta roba, ragazzi.
08:38So we're going to just wrestle, cover it in plastic wrap.
08:43And we're going to let this pasta dough rest for at least 30 minutes, and then we're going
08:46to roll it out at restroom temperature.
08:53You got to get Chef Tony.
08:54He's been on almost all these videos.
08:56Chef Tony, you got to turn around.
08:57You've been on so many.
08:58It's like...
09:00OK, now we're in the temperature-controlled pasta room, which is like the heart of Alla
09:05Massara, right?
09:06The best thing here is that we have the Ferraris.
09:08We have the Ferrari of pasta machines.
09:11La montarina.
09:12Corteccia is going to be one of those shapes that you just don't see anymore.
09:16If we think of cavatelli, when you roll it out and then you press it with two or three
09:20fingers, it looks kind of like a small seashell, right?
09:23Corteccia is pressed with four fingers, right?
09:25So this is one of those where you get just long enough, but also the indentions will
09:29allow the ragout to sit inside.
09:31So that's what makes it really beautiful.
09:33One of my favorites.
09:35OK, so...
09:37I mean, it's just flour and water, but it smells incredible, right?
09:41It's tacky.
09:42OK.
09:43Rested.
09:46We're going to add some doppelganger flour.
09:50I'm going to cut it in half.
09:52OK.
09:57Whenever we work at both Residor and Massara, we always laminate our doughs because it also
10:01helps with that al dente texture that we're looking for, yeah?
10:03So you'll see that I fold it in half just then.
10:05Laminating is when you fold over, just like you would have those layers in a croissant,
10:09right?
10:10So you'll get the bite and the texture when you laminate the dough like this, right?
10:14OK, so you'll see that I haven't added too much flour at all, right?
10:17We just don't want the actual pasta to be gummy because you add additional flour and
10:20layer upon flour and flour upon layer and it's like...
10:24Instead of it being integrated into the dough, the flour just stays on top and that's how
10:28you get the gumminess on a pasta that you're not looking for.
10:31And again, we have to talk about how we get corteccia done well.
10:34So we take a pastry cutter.
10:38Pastry cutter makes everything really nice and even, which is super important, especially
10:41when you're at the restaurant.
10:42So you can do corteccia the exact same every time.
10:45So we have two strands of the pasta.
10:49Pull it apart.
10:52So corteccia is going to be about that size in width.
10:55Uno, due tre.
11:01Press.
11:02Pull.
11:03Yeah, like that's what we're looking for, right?
11:05Just take a look here.
11:06You have all these divots and you have like, you have little pieces of sausage sitting
11:09in there.
11:10So when you take one or two or three forkfuls, you have the Calabrian chili, the garlic,
11:13the sausage inside.
11:14It's like, it's the best medium, the best way to transport the ragu into your mouth.
11:19I don't know any other better way to put it.
11:21I mean, I'm going to roll out the rest of this corteccia.
11:23We're going to, we're going to press them.
11:25We're going to let it dry and then it's going to go right into our dish for the sausage
11:28ragu.
11:29Fire it up.
11:32Okay, so the ragu, the ragu has been simmering right for eight hours.
11:37We're finishing everything up right now.
11:39The pasta has been made.
11:40We've rolled it out.
11:41We've formed everything and now we're going to put it all together.
11:43Yeah, this is, this is like, this is where it all comes together.
11:45So I have the broccoli rabe.
11:46The bitter is going to counteract like the really richness of the sausage ragu.
11:50Add a little bit of extra virgin olive oil to the pot right now.
11:52We're going to add the broccoli rabe in first.
11:55Okay.
11:57A pan like this really helps to incorporate the air, right?
12:01I'm going to add a little bit of sliced garlic.
12:04We slice the garlic on the mandolin really thin so it melts into the sauce, right?
12:08An important part of this is to get like a depth of flavor with fresh Calabrian chilies.
12:13So that's the base.
12:14We're going to add our sausage ragu that's been, that's been cooking down.
12:17Okay.
12:21Coarse sea salt.
12:22That's what we're going to season the water with, right?
12:25And always taste the, always taste the pasta water.
12:29People think it's crazy, but it's fundamental, right?
12:31The pasta, like 50% of the flavor in the pasta is going to be from the water, right?
12:35So we're going to drop our cortecha that's, that's been cooked through, finished.
12:40That's going to take two to three minutes to cook.
12:43Okay.
12:44Broccoli rabe's been cooked down two to three minutes to cook the cortecha.
12:48So I have beautiful starchy water from the pasta.
12:52Okay.
12:53We're going to add that in.
12:56I cook the pasta 75% of the way there.
12:59And la mantecatura, the glazing, is going to cook the rest of the 25%, right?
13:06We add pasta water because the starch in the pasta water is going to help to A,
13:11finish the cooking process of the actual pasta and then B, help glaze the sauce.
13:19Off the heat.
13:21Parmigiano reggiano abundante, which means a lot of parmigiano reggiano.
13:25And then we have a finishing oil.
13:33See how it's all glazed really nice and beautifully and you have a nice sheen, right?
13:37This is what we're looking for, yeah?
13:40I love to have everything in the middle.
13:42And I'm just going to finish with just a little bit of more ragu on top.
13:49Oh my God.
13:50So we have the spiciness of guava and chili.
13:52We have the richness of sausage ragu.
13:54We have the bitterness of the broccoli rabe, the parmigiano, the olive oil.
13:58It's like southern Italy to a T.
14:02You saw everything being done, right?
14:04The sofrito got emulsified.
14:06The sausage was browned.
14:08We put everything together in, that was like three minutes, right?
14:12You just have the best ingredients you can get your hands on.
14:14And then, yeah, you're off to the races.
14:17It's 100%.
14:18You can easily do this.
14:19Cheers.
14:24I used to do this when I was in college.
14:26I used to do these ragus and always have late night ragu after we'd go have cocktails, you know?
14:31And everyone would come over to my house and I'd just cook big bowls of pasta with sausage ragu.
14:35And then bread to scarpetta and it's like, you become the spot, right?
14:40Everyone wants to come over.
14:41Alright.
14:43Taco Bell works too.