Everything rests on two things: pork ribs, which give up their collagen over two hours and make the sauce glossy, and cavatelli dragged hard enough to curl into real hollows that hold it. Browning the ribs and sausage properly before the wine goes in is the choice that matters; skip it and the ragù tastes boiled. Pecorino at the table adds the sharp, salty finish the sweet pork needs.
Make ahead The ragù is even better made a day ahead: reheat it gently while the pasta water comes to the boil and loosen it with a splash of that water.
Cavatelli al Ragù di Maiale
Prep 1 hr · Cook 2 hr 30 min · Rest 30 min · Serves 6 · Difficulty Medium
Method
Knead the semola with about 200 ml warm water and a pinch of salt into a firm, springy dough. Rest 30 minutes under a bowl.
40 min
Roll ropes as thick as a pencil, cut into 2 cm pieces, and drag each across the board with two fingertips so it curls into a hollow shell. Park on semolina.
40 min
Brown the ribs and sausage hard in the oil; remove. Soften the onion, garlic, and chile in the same fat.
12 min
Stir in the concentrate, then the wine; scrape and reduce by half.
5 min
Return the meat, add the passata and a glass of water, and simmer with the lid ajar until the rib meat loosens from the bone, about 2 hours. Season in the final stretch.
2 hr 5 min
Boil the cavatelli in well-salted water until they float plus one minute, 4 to 6 minutes total.
6 min
Toss the cavatelli with the sauce (meat lifted out for the second course, or shredded back in, house rules vary), loosening with pasta water. Pecorino over everything.
3 min
Kitchen notes
Two fingers, real pressure. Drag hard enough that the dough curls back on itself; a shallow dent will not hold sauce. The board should rumble.
The fat tells the truth. When a slick of brick-red fat rides the top of the pot, the ragù is ready; stir it back in or spoon a little off, but only after admiring it.
In the Molise hills the same ragù hosts braciole, little rolled and tied beef bundles; add them alongside the ribs when you want the full ceremony.
