Farfalle with lamb ragout, mint and ricotta

A classic dish with some interesting twists...

This is one of those recipes where there are a million different versions and it's slightly overwhelming if you're cooking it for the first time. I had lamb mince in the fridge, so I did some googling and came up with this recipe as a basis.

I've only had beef ragout with rosemary before; this recipe interested me because it also contains ground coriander, fennel seeds and cumin along with fresh rosemary, mint and thyme. I have all of these except the fresh thyme, so dried had to suffice this time.

Fresh mint was a bit of a challenge however as my poor mint plant was viciously attacked by two caterpillars last week. It's amazing how many leaves such small creatures can plow through in less than 24 hours.

I followed the recipe fairly closely, so there is nothing particularly innovative in this post. I was supposed to put a carrot in, but I ate it instead. I didn't bother with the celery. I used red wine vinegar instead of red wine. I cooked the meat within the sauce and let it simmer for longer. (This keeps the meat soft and stops it from clumping - thanks to a certain lady for this tip!)

Adding the pasta into the ragout.

I was fairly conservative with the spices, measuring them out exactly. It's not a combination that I'm used to using in a European dish so I didn't want to overdo it.

Because my mint was looking quite poorly, I threw the half-eaten leaves into the pot. I kept the pretty ones for the garnish.

I definitely think it was worth choosing the recipe with the extra spices. They weren't difficult to add in and the taste is amazing.

Something else to add: I always was confused re: ragu versus ragout. Apparently they're one and the same, the former being Italian and the latter being French. Mystery solved.

Definitely worth adding this to your repertoire.