Red Wine Ragu with Pistachios and Cherries

This has been my favorite red sauce to make for 5 years now and I am just now getting around to sharing it. It feels special to me and that might be because I started making it when we were newly married or because I typically only make it for friends and big dinners and those types of nights were everything is rosy and warm and right. It might be because it doesn’t make sense but is so surprising and grounding and good. Its warm and bright, garlicky and nutty and sweet and rich. If cherries weren’t a big enough surprise then lets add golden bright and warm curry to the mix to just liven things up a little more. Finally sharing this and even that feels specials (to me at least). With moving and new jobs and new friends and missing all those things that grounded us in Indy it felt good to have something that we have been sharing together since we basically started our relationship.

Ingredients

28 ounces Crushed Tomato

2 cups Red Wine

1 medium yellow onion

3/4 cup chopped raw Pistachio

1/2 cup dried Tart Cherries

1 tbsp minced Garlic

1 tsp Yellow Curry Powder

1 tsp Coriander

1 tsp ground Black Pepper

1 tbsp Salt (but use your judgement and salt to taste)

Olive oil

Fresh Pasta, Dried Pasta, or veggies for it to top

Heat olive oil in a large sauce pan on medium/low and dice your onion. Im still LOVING this chef knife from Made In. Ive never had a good knife and it was perfection and has made all the chopping I do much much easier and more precise.

Be patient and caramelize your onion. This took about 25 minutes for me to get it to the point I wanted with out any crispy or burnt bits. This really deepens the flavor of the sauce and compliments the sweetness of the cherries.

Once the onions are getting nice and caramelized add the garlic and return to heat to finish out the caramelization. About 5 more minutes.

Add red wine and cherries and return to heat. The red wine rehydrates the cherries and makes them plump but not overly sweet. When cherries are just starting to plump add the tomato sauce.

Add the curry, salt, pepper, and coriander and mix well. I roughly chop the pistachios. By having some finer bits it helps the sauce feel meatier and get some good nutty pistachio flavors. While the bigger bits slightly absorbs the rest of the sauce flavors. Let this cook down together for at least 15 minutes on medium health but up to another 45 minutes on low/simmer. The longer the better I think.

Toss with pasta and top with more pistachio. Fresh pasta is my favorite. Its the first recipe I shared and you can find it here. Its really perfect together. But sometimes you might want more veggies like I did on this night. Let me just say this sauce is SO GOOD on cauliflower steak.

You don’t need to miss out on the comforts of this sauce if you are off the gluten or just want something lighter. Just take a big slice of cauliflower and sauté with butter or olive oil and season with just a bit of pepper (remember the sauce is very flavorful) until its golden brown. I also sautéed some spinach for some additional green. It was very very good. Just put this sauce on something. ENJOY!