Laura Sharrad’s spiced lamb ragu with pappardelle

In a large heavy-based pan over high heat, add olive oil and fry off the lamb, in batches, making sure to caramelise the lamb all over. A fair amount of lamb fat will render out during this process so you can discard this afterwards if you’d like, however it definitely adds to the flavour of the sauce. 

Once lamb has been seared, reduce heat to medium low. Add the onion and capsicum and sweat them down until the onion becomes translucent. I like to add a little salt at this point to help the process along. Add the white wine and cook off the alcohol. 

Meanwhile, put the canned tomatoes into a mixing bowl and thoroughly crush them with your hands, remove any fibrous core. Add the tomatoes to the pan with the spices, and chilli, if using. Return the lamb to the pan and give it all a good stir. Cover, cook on a low heat, stirring every now and again until the lamb is tender when pinched between two fingers, around 2½ to 3 hours. Season to your preference with more salt and pepper. 

To cook fresh pappardelle, bring a large pan of well-salted water to the boil, and add fresh pasta. Cook for 2-3 minutes, or until al dente. Drain, reserving a ½ cup cooking water.

Add pasta to lamb ragu with a small ladle of cooking water; toss to combine. 

Serve lamb ragu with parmiggiano cheese and extra fermented chilli oil, if you like.