House Sugo at Home
I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for months and something always seems to come before it!! So without further ado….I discovered my favourite restaurant of all time, Sugo Pasta Kitchen, some years back when we lived in Manchester and after I tasted their House Sugo I knew I would never find a better pasta dish. Time after time I went back with my hubbie, family or friends and I thought ‘I must try something else this time’ but on every single occasion I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to have a bowl of this heavenly pasta.
When we moved back to Newcastle, I had a rather large Sugo shaped hole in my heart and so I decided it was about time I tried to come up with my own version of the dish. The result below is the closest I could get to it tasting as good as the masters in Manchester. It’s a little higher in points for a pasta dish, but I promise you, its worth every single one of them. The recipe makes a huge batch of pasta sauce and so you can freeze plenty for another day. It’s a great dish to make family or friends as it feels so luxurious but it really doesn’t take much effort at all.
The pasta shape used in Sugo for this is usually Orecchiette and so when I can get my hands on it (usually in the Aldi special buys aisle) I always stock up. It’s the perfect shape to neatly cup the sauce and meat and is a lovely texture too. If you can find orecchiette, feel free to use the pasta of your choice.
You can get nduja in most supermarkets these days but if you are struggling have a look in your local Italian deli. This lovely spicy spreadable pork sausage takes this dish to a whole new level!
WW POINTS AND NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
Serves 8 = 9 points per serving for the sauce – add extra points for your serving of pasta – I usually serve 60g dried per person for a total of 15 points.
Per serving = 246 cals, Fat 4.6g, Carbs 11.5g, Protein 14.1g
INGREDIENTS
- 400g beef shin, raw
- 400g pork shoulder, raw
- 2 carrots, peeled and finely diced
- 1 onion, peeled and finely diced
- 2 sticks of celery, finely diced
- 6 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely minced
- 2 anchovy fillets, finely chopped
- 50g njuda sausage (you can get this in most deli style shops now)
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 250ml red wine
- 500ml beef stock (made of 1 stock cube)
- 2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes (Mutti are the best but any will do)
- 2 bay leaves
- Spring of fresh thyme and rosemary
- 1 tsp oregano
- 50g parmesan, grated
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 150c (fan assisted).
Season the beef and pork with salt and pepper then take a large sauce pan, spray with 1kal and on a medium/high heat add the beef shin to the pan and brown on all sides. Remove from the pan, pop to one side and then do the same with the pork shoulder. Remove from the pan.
Spray the same pan with 1kal again and add the carrot, onion and celery. Fry on a medium heat until everything begins to soften (6-8 minutes). Add the garlic and anchovies and fry for another minute.
Add the nduja to the pan, fry for a minute or two until the oils start releasing and it starts to breakup and then add the tomato puree. Stir, fry for a minute and then add the red wine to the pan. Reduce the wine for a few minutes and then add the beef stock, tomatoes, bay, thyme, rosemary and oregano. Add the beef and pork back to the pan (chop into a few large chunks if you are struggling to get the meat to fit), make sure the sauce covers the meat and season well. Bring to the boil and then take off the heat, add the lid and then pop in the oven for 3-3.5 hours.
Once the cooking time is up the meat should be falling apart. You can either shred the meat in the sauce or take it out the pan and shred it on a plate. Either way, once shredded, put the pan back on the heat (with the meat and sauce) and reduce the sauce if it is still too thin until it thickens up. Adding the meat will help with this anyway.
Finally add the parmesan, stir and then season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with pasta of your choice.
Enjoy!
House Sugo at Home
Ingredients
- 400 g beef shin raw
- 400 g pork shoulder raw
- 2 carrots peeled and finely diced
- 1 onion peeled and finely diced
- 2 sticks of celery finely diced
- 6 cloves of garlic peeled and finely minced
- 2 anchovy fillets finely chopped
- 50 g njuda sausage you can get this in most deli style shops now
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 250 ml red wine
- 500 ml beef stock made of 1 stock cube
- 2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes Mutti are the best but any will do
- 2 bay leaves
- Spring of fresh thyme and rosemary
- 1 tsp oregano
- 50 g parmesan grated
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 150c (fan assisted).
- Season the beef and pork with salt and pepper then take a large sauce pan, spray with 1kal and on a medium/high heat add the beef shin to the pan and brown on all sides. Remove from the pan, pop to one side and then do the same with the pork shoulder. Remove from the pan.
- Spray the same pan with 1kal again and add the carrot, onion and celery. Fry on a medium heat until everything begins to soften (6-8 minutes). Add the garlic and anchovies and fry for another minute.
- Add the nduja to the pan, fry for a minute or two until the oils start releasing and it starts to breakup and then add the tomato puree. Stir, fry for a minute and then add the red wine to the pan. Reduce the wine for a few minutes and then add the beef stock, tomatoes, bay, thyme, rosemary and oregano. Add the beef and pork back to the pan (chop into a few large chunks if you are struggling to get the meat to fit), make sure the sauce covers the meat and season well. Bring to the boil and then take off the heat, add the lid and then pop in the oven for 3-3.5 hours.
- Once the cooking time is up the meat should be falling apart. You can either shred the meat in the sauce or take it out the pan and shred it on a plate. Either way, once shredded, put the pan back on the heat (with the meat and sauce) and reduce the sauce if it is still too thin until it thickens up. Adding the meat will help with this anyway.
- Finally add the parmesan, stir and then season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve with pasta of your choice.
- Enjoy!
Hi Laura. I assume this will also work in the slow cooker!
Unbelievably this is spot on. I will be able to try something else off the menu next time I go to Sugo. Brilliant
We discovered Sugo only recently despite living within 3.miles of the restaurant for years. My husband had their House Sugo dish and was raving about it. I tried some of his and it was delicious. We saw your recipe today and immediately decided to try it. After googling and discovering stewing steak is the same as beef shin, we bought all the ingredients at the supermarket and I made this dish today. It was absolutely delicious, very near to the restaurant’s version (ours could have done with being a bit wetter – maybe less time in the oven do you think? It had 3 hours but our beef was in small pieces as we couldn’t find a joint in Waitrose, Sainsbury’s or Asda!) and we savoured every single mouthful.
It took time to prep, due to the need to dice the carrots and celery really finely but it was so worth the effort. This is one I’ll make for gatherings of friends and family for sure. Thanks so much Laura, for figuring out how to recreate this dish and sharing it with us all.