Pasta alla Genovese

Pasta alla Genovese (Beef and Onion Ragù)

This Pasta alla Genovese (La Genovese) is a delicious beef and onion ragù from Naples, despite its name. Carrots, celery, beef, and lots of onions are slow cooked and then tossed with pasta before serving. It takes quite a few hours to make, but the result will not disappoint you!

Jump to Recipe

Hey everyone – how are you doing? Did you have lovely Easter (of course, if you celebrated)? Was the egg hunt successful for you? Even though we did not really celebrate Easter, we enjoyed the long weekend. By the way, I have some breaking news. After the last Thursday’s freezing rain, it seems that winter is finally over in Nova Scotia – well, at least our forecasts says this. Around 12-15 degrees C over the last couple of days, and wait for this – 20 degrees C on Friday!

I think this is a great reason to celebrate, right?

Pasta alla Genovese

I have already shared one recipe from Frank’s blog – please check out this tasty Sicilian Style Pasta with Cauliflower recipe. After that, I kept browsing his blog searching for some other unique pasta recipes. And I found one! (Well, in fact, many). Just to be clear, though: Frank’s post inspired me to make this pasta, but the I opted for a different – less authentic way – of making this ragù (see below.)

I had never heard of La Genovese, and I think I am not alone. Honestly, it is such a shame! While other Italian ragù and pasta sauces, including famous Bolognese, are undoubtedly delicious and hearty, this Neapolitan sauce should also be famous!

The slow-cooking method calls for over three hours of cooking time, but most of the time, you can leave this ragù unattended.

Cooking Method and Way of Eating

As many Italian sauces, La Genovese starts with making a sofrito – a mix of aromatics like carrots, celery, and onions that gets sautéed. However, the difference is that this recipes uses a LOT OF onions.

There is two ways to make and serve this sauce. First way is to utilize the whole piece of meat cooking it for about 3 hours. Once it is ready, you will serve the thick onion sauce with pasta and serve the slices of beef as a separate course – or reserve for another meal. That is the traditional way. See Frank’s recipe if you would like to follow this method.

Another way is to cut beef into chunks. As the result of simmering (for a longer amount of time, up to 4 hours), the beef will turn flakey and juicy, and kind of melting with onions – scrumptious concoction! This may not be the most authentic way to enjoy it, but it is undoubtedly tasty and hearty.

As you can see, I opted for the second way.

The second method yields lot of sauce – when combined with pasta, enough for probably eight people or so – but you do not need to use it at once. Simply use as much of this ragù as you need and keep the leftovers refrigerated for up to a week. When ready to enjoy, preheat and use as desired. Besides pasta, I think you can enjoy it with rice, vegetables, lentils, etc.

More Pasta Recipes

Looking for more pasta recipes? Here we go!

Sicilian Style Pasta with Cauliflower

Veal Ragù Pasta

Sun-Dried Tomato Veal Pasta

Chestnut Prosciutto Pasta

Veal Chestnut Pasta

I hope you like this Pasta alla Genovese, and you will give it a try shortly. If you make it, let me know in this post or send me an Instagram message or share your photos adding the hashtag #havocinthekitchen. And please check Frank’s blog, too.

Cheers!

Pasta alla Genovese (Beef and Onion Ragù)
Pasta alla Genovese (Beef and Onion Ragù)
Pasta alla Genovese (Beef and Onion Ragù)

Pasta alla Genovese

Recipe by Ben | HavocinthekitchenCourse: MainCuisine: Italian
Servings

6-8

servings
Prep time

15

minutes
Cooking time

ab. 4

hours

This Pasta alla Genovese (La Genovese) is a delicious beef and onion ragù from Naples, despite its name. Carrots, celery, beef, and lots of onions are slow cooked and then tossed with pasta before serving. It takes quite a few hours to make, but the result will not disappoint you!

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp. olive oil

  • 3 lb. yellow onions, thinly sliced

  • 1 medium carrot, finely diced

  • 1 stalk of celery, sliced

  • 1 and 1/2 lb. stewing beef (like chuck) – roughly cut into rough pieces

  • 100-120 gr. pancetta, cubed

  • 1 cup white wine

  • 2/3 to 1 tsp. salt or more, to taste

  • black pepper, to taste

  • 1 lb. short tubular dried pasta such as ziti or rigatoni

  • parsley and Parmesan, optional – for serving

Directions

  • La Genovese Ragu
  • Pre-heat a heavy bottom Dutch oven or pot on medium heat and add the olive oil.
  • Add the onions, carrots, and celery and sauté for about 10 minutes; do not let them brown.
  • Add the pancetta and cook for another 5 minutes.
  • Add beef chunks and season well with salt and pepper. Let the beef brown a bit for next 5-7 minutes.
  • Cover the pot and let it slowly cook for about 3 hours, stirring every now and then.
  • After 3 hours remove the lid and add the wine. Continue to simmer for another hour or so or until the beef is flaky and falling apart. Try and season with more salt and pepper, if necessary.
  • Pasta
  • Cook the pasta as per package instructions, al dente. Drain it, reserving about 1 cup of liquid. Pour drained pasta back into the pot.
  • Scoop a few generous ladles of your Genovese sauce – or as much as you want – over the pasta and mix it in. Add some of the reserved pasta water, if it looks to dry. Reserve the remaining Genovese sauce; transfer it to a container and keep refrigerated for up to a week (I used ~ 1/2 of the sauce with 1 lb. of pasta). Sprinkle with parsley and Parmesan, if desired. Enjoy!

13 thoughts on “Pasta alla Genovese

  1. David Scott Allen says:

    And, here I am late to the table again… I do apologize! This is a very delicious pasta recipe and I do think your method is very similar to Franks – and very authentic! I plan to make this as soon as we get back from Morocco!

    PS – have you been able to find out why I cannot get your posts in my email? I haven’t been able to figure our anything on this end…

  2. Judee says:

    Your pasta dish looks incredible. I do love pasta and love to try different recipes. We are leaving for a trip to Italy (including Naples) in two weeks. Hope they have gluten-free pasta!!

  3. Velva says:

    Holy cow! This looks amazing. I think this would be a beautiful pasta dish for Sunday Supper or weekend entertaining. The low and slow of this dish really brings the flavors together.

    Thanks for sharing this with us.

    Velva

  4. sherry says:

    I love the sound of the sauce but as we don’t eat pasta I guess you could eat it with rice or quinoa? Still darn hot and humid here in sunny brisbane. Oh bring on winter!!

  5. David @ Spiced says:

    That pasta looks amazing, Ben! Talk about my perfect comfort food right there. :-) Plus, the house smells so amazing while ragu simmers on the stovetop. I also love Frank’s site…he shares the coolest Italian recipes, and I always learn something from each post! So glad you discovered and shared your take on this one!
    David @ Spiced recently posted…Spinach Artichoke Mac and CheeseMy Profile

  6. Michelle says:

    Looks so comforting, hearty and delicious! I could really use a bowl of warm pasta …. still so rainy over here!

  7. Raymund says:

    This Pasta alla Genovese recipe looks delicious! I love slow-cooked meat and onions, so I can’t wait to try this out. I also appreciate the two different ways to make and serve the sauce, as it gives me some flexibility depending on how much time I have.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CommentLuv badge