For more then a year, my friend Domenico (from Naples) has been telling me about “Ragu Genovese,” a classic slow cooked meat sauce. White, not red, it lacks tomatoes or garlic, focusing soley on meat, onions and wine. Its history dates back to Genovese sailors, who visiting the port of Naples, loved this dish. And so it became known as “ragu alla Genovese,” as it isn’t prepared anywhere else other than Naples. Now it’s come to New York!

It takes six hours to cook. And when do you know it’s ready? From the “pippiare,” the sound the ragu makes as the liquid from meat and onion reduce in the pot! It is supposed to be served with “paccheri,” a large tubular pasta. Not finding any, we used rutole-shaped shells from Andrea Cavalieri, someone we met at Gustiamo and the Fancy Food Show. Thanks also to Brooklyn’s Meat Hook who had some fabulous cut of campanella, which is key to the dish as well. Grazie Domenico!