Orechiette with braised goat ragù

I recently went to this outstanding Cypriot restaurant called Philhelene in Melbourne. The food seriously took me on the biggest journey through Cyprus and I was left wanting to pack my bags and go to Cyprus immediately to taste this gorgeous cuisine in the place it originates from. One of the many dishes we had was a braised goat ragù with fired potatoes. The goat was exquisitely succulent and extremely soft, leaving me dreaming for it for many nights. So when my dad visited the market he called me up and asked if I wanted goat shoulder, which was an immediate yes on behalf. I knew that Gourmet Traveller had done a goat ragù with pappardelle pasta as I have been a subscriber for an innumerable number of years, so it was just a matter of opening up all the Italian editions and finding the recipe, (easier done than said)!

I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect recipe and if you have some extra time on your hands definitely give the pappardelle pasta a try. I unfortunately was a bit squeezed for time and opted for my favourite orechiette pasta but, certainly pair it with whatever pasta you like. The definite key flavour to this dish is braising the goat on the bone. The bone adds this whole new level of oomph and with the enhancing flavours of onion, celery, garlic, carrot and tomato you have yourself the most succulent dinner.  The best part of this is, once you have put it in the oven you can go out of the house or do whatever you please as you don’t have to worry about it for 3 hours and when you come back the house smells of thyme and goat and caramelised onions, the stomach certainly begins to rumble but the best part is you only have to boil some pasta before you can dig in!

1 kid shoulder on the bone (about 1.5kg), cut into 3 pieces.

60 ml (1/4 cup) extra virgin olive oil

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

2 small carrots, finely chopped

1 onion, finely chopped

1 kg canned crushed tomatoes

310 ml (1¼ cup) chicken stock

6 thyme sprigs

2 fresh bay leaves

20gm butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Shaved Grand Padano to serve

500 grams orechiette

Preheat oven to 140C. Season goat to taste. Heat oil in a casserole over medium-high heat until smoking, add goat and turn occasionally until browned (3-5 minutes). Transfer to an oven tray and keep warm. Add vegetables to casserole and sauté until starting to caramelise (10-12 minutes). Add tomato and stock and bring to the boil. Add thyme and bay elves. Return goat to casserole, cover with the lid and bake until meat is tender and begins to fall off the bone. (2½-3 hours). Remove goat from sauce and, when cool enough to handle break into bite-size pieces (discard bones). Add the goat back into the sauce and place in the oven for another 15 minutes. In the mean place orechiette into salted boiling water and cook according to the packaging directions. Once cooked strain and sauté in oil.

Serve past with ragù and liberally decorate with shaved parmesan.

Recipe adapted from Gourmet Traveller.