Pappardelle al ragù di capriolo (pappardelle with venison ragout)

I’m such a slave to the weather. Two days of rain and it’s practically autumn, as far as I’m concerned. And after seeing the cover of last month’s Saveur around the house for the past 8 weeks, I’ve had carnivorous yearning for a hearty Bolognese.

So I pulled the venison chorizo from last winter’s storage in an effort to continue clearing my freezer and “eating from the pantry”. It was still really good, considering it was uncured. The pimentòn in the chorizo wasn’t too much when blended with a few glugs of red wine, stewed tomatoes and copious amounts of fresh thyme. The fat from the salt pork also helped, as did the pound of grass-fed beef I used to supplement the lean game.

I didn’t have a lot of tomatoes (half a can of stewed, whole toms from the freezer), but this is meat sauce, not red sauce. Also, I had some of my favorite condiment: gochujang, a Korean chili paste that is slightly sweet and miso-y. It’s spicy, but not too. And it brings a sticky umami to the sauce that enmeshes perfectly with ungulate and tomatoes. A must-have for any well-stocked pantry.

Just for kicks, I added some dried bing cherries, sundried tomatoes and a dash of balsamic to the mix and let it stew down until the liquid was almost completely absorbed. Toss with fresh pappardelle (not homemade, but it is a workday so cut me some fucking slack) and top with Parm Redge and a chiff of basil.

Enjoyed with 2006 Domaine Brusset Côtes du Ventoux Les Boudalles. An honest, full-bodied wine, reminiscent of stone fruit, bracken, lichen-covered twigs and dry leaves that crackle beneath your feet.