Quick Ragù With Ricotta and Lemon

Sambal makes this a little garlic heavy for me. The hungarian paprika paste is a good option, as is the adobo from canned chipotles, sesame chili oil also works in 1/2 ratio. If you swap the lasagne noodles with spaetzle, fennel for caraway, this also makes a legitimately delicious riff on goulash.

I thought it needed tomato paste for depth and sugar to counter the acidic pepper paste. Added them both towards the end and it came out great!

For the chili paste I used Korean gochujang and it came out really well. Add a lot of flavor that complemented the fennel well.

I love the idea of doing this with spaetzle as a riff on goulash / gulyás (my Husband is Hungarian, so, you're speaking my language!). Just curious where you found your Hungarian paprika paste?

I’ve been making ragú with Impossible burger and it works beautifully. I’m not a vegetarian but generally looking to cut back on red meat. Brown it well and add a bit of garlic, rosemary and sage, and you’ve got the meaty bliss of Italian sausage minus the guilt of destroying the earth. Doesn’t work for everything, but really works here.

I used harissa as the pepper paste, since I had some in the fridge. It was delicious!!!

Amazing. Quick weeknight meal. I used Italian sausage, put the ricotta on the side to everyone's liking. This is a keeper.

Surprisingly layered for such a quick dish. The toasted fennel seeds and lemon zest were a brilliant finish. They conveyed the classic Italian flavors to the essentially ground beef base. The chili paste added just enough heat. Wouldn’t change a thing. May become a new standard for a week night very satisfying pasta. Rich T. Columbus Ohio

Made this recipe with spicy Italian sausage. Per the suggestion in the comment, I added tomato paste before the 30 min simmer period. It significantly helped to balance the acidity. Otherwise, I made the recipe as written. Its an intensely flavorful dish— very aromatic, and simple. Would make again. Next time, I’ll toss the noodles in honey before mixing in the ragu— I think some earthy sweetness would have been a nice addition.

Used 2 tablespoons of Sambal Oelek by Huy Fong Foods (green cap). It was delicious, but I will cut back on the heat next time. Lemon zest over the ricotta was a nice touch. Will definitely make again. Next time will use leaner ground beef, less olive oil for cooking the onion and garlic, and drain fat prior to adding the red pepper paste. Will add the olive oil right before serving.

I only had no-cook lasagna noodles so I added about half a cup of water to the sauce and put the dry, broken noodles into the ragu 15 minutes into the 30-minutes of simmering. It came out just fine. Made for a filling, very rich dinner.

Sure, I bet it would work! When I've substituted tofu for ground beef, I've had best results when I've frozen it, then thawed and pressed the water out of it. The texture works SO much better that way! I've also successfully used tempeh and bulgur as ground beef substitutes. Good luck!

We made this tonight and followed it exactly, no substitutions, and it was delicious! The ricotta, fennel, lemon zest, maldon, pepper, and olive oil drizzle took it over the top! Perfect, easy, weeknight meal!

Wow! We just made and ate this. Fantastic. I could not find sambal oelek, so I used some mild Harissa and an equal amount of tomato paste. Perfect for a cool, fall evening.

Thanks. I dislike fennel and swapping caraway for the fennel sounds like a great idea. I am still going to try the original version, though, just without fennel.