Pork Ragu

This is a pork based ragu full of lots of vegetables. Rather than the standard soffrito of onions, celery and carrots, I used onions, carrots, peppers, and zucchini.

Ingredients:

• 2 spicy Italian sausages (pork)
• 14 oz of crushed tomatoes (half a large can)
• 1 small onion, finely diced
• 1/4 cup of diced peppers
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 carrot (or approximately 5 baby carrots), finely diced
• 1 small zucchini, diced
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• basil, oregano, black pepper
• parmesan/romano cheese

I removed the 2 sausages from their casings and broke them up into small pieces as I browned them. To the browned meat I added the carrots, onions, peppers, and garlic. Since it wasn't pepper season yet here in Michigan, I used a blend of frozen diced red, green, and yellow peppers. These actually worked quite well since they become soft rather fast; the sauce really shouldn't have a crunch. After the onions were browned, I added a few dashes of dried basil and oregano followed by a few grinds of black pepper. When the carrots were mostly soft with just a little crunch left, I added the diced zucchini. I let the zucchini cook for about the time it took me to open the can of tomatoes. I added the tomatoes to the sauce, a few more dashes of basil and oregano, and allowed the sauce to simmer over low heat for approximately 15 minutes. Finally, I added about 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar to the mixture and allowed it to simmer for about 10 minutes more.

I served it over linguine and topped it with a blend of parmesan and romano cheese.