Leftover Pulled Pork Ragu

This Leftover Pulled Pork Ragu is the solid way to use up leftovers and turn it into something truly special. A ragu that's ready from start to finish in 40 minutes and tastes good. Toss with your favorite pasta and serve with crusty bread.

Want to know how this ragu tastes like it's been simmering for hours but takes 40 minutes? Use the most good leftover pulled pork that's been slow cooked for 10 hours (which btw only requires 10 minutes prep time).

Leftover pulled pork will keep well in the fridge for 3-4 days and can also be frozen (as can this ragu) so it's the solid way to be cost-effective and get 2-3 meals out of one piece of meat PLUS have the most good tasting meals.

This ragu is SO rich and intense in flavour but is made with only a few simple ingredients. Whaaat? No catches, nothing bottled, nothing jarred there are a few simple but important steps to follow for the best results every single time.

How to Make a Simple Sauce with good Flavour

• Soffrito – soffrito is finely chopped carrot, celery and onion that's slowly cooked until softened and starting to brown. Now THIS is a important step that creates a great depth of flavour to the sauce. Don't be tempted to rush it or you won't see the benefits.
• High-quality tomatoes – We've said this so many times because it's SO important if you use cheap tomatoes your sauce will likely be bland and acidic tasting. This is our favourite brand that we use all the time and always gives the most good flavour.
• Using passata/sieved tomatoes – passata is much more concentrated than canned chopped tomatoes so it's an easy way to get a rich tomato sauce, fast!

How to Make Leftover Pulled Pork Ragu – Step By Step

Heat olive oil in a large pan and add the diced carrot, celery and onion, cook until soft and translucent, around 10 to 15 mins (photo 1).

Then add the red wine and reduce by half or until the smell of wine has disappeared (photo 2 & 3).

Add the tomato paste, passata (pureed tomatoes) and 1 cup of water rinsed out from the passata can or jar, stir. Simmer the sauce down on a medium heat for another 10 to 15 minutes.

Once the sauce has reduced add the leftover pulled pork to the sauce and leave on the heat for another 5 minutes until heated through then add cooked pasta and toss to coat (photo 7 & 8).

Top Tips for Making Leftover Pulled Pork Ragu

• Slowly cook the soffrito until soft and translucent on medium heat (don't turn up the heat, see the video and step by step photos for reference)
• Reduce the wine down for extra flavour.
• Use pureed tomatoes for rich flavour fast.
• You can use any pasta shape for this recipe, we love using a long shape such as bucatini or pappardelle.
• We used 300g (2 cups) of leftover pulled pork but you could also get away with less if you don't have as much.
• Serve with freshly grated parmesan.
• Leftover pulled pork ragu can be stored in the fridge or freezer (without the cooked pasta). To reheat from frozen defrost it completely then reheat on the stove until piping hot all the way through. You may need to add a splash of water to help loosen the sauce.

More Ragu Recipes You Might Like:

• Venetian Duck Ragu with Pappardelle
• Gnocchi with Creamy White Sausage Ragu
• Easy Sausage Ragu With Ricotta Gnocchi
• Italian Beef Ragu – A Classic Recipe
• Lentil Ragu Lasagne

Ingredients

Makes 4 -6 servings

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 Carrot (finely diced (1/2 cup))
• 1 Celery (finely diced (1/2 cup))
• 1/2 Onion (finely diced (1/2 cup))
• 2 cups Leftover Pulled Pork (chopped (300g))
• 1/2 cup Red wine ((125ml))
• 2 cups Passata (sieved tomatoes) ((500g))
• 1 Tbsp Tomato paste
• 1.5 cups Water ((375ml))
• 14 oz Bucatini or long pasta of choice ((400g))

Method

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta until al dente (according to packet instructions). Heat olive oil in a large pan and add the diced carrot, celery, and onion, cook until soft and translucent, around 10 to 15 mins.

2. Then add the red wine and reduce by half or until the smell of wine has disappeared.

3. Add the tomato paste, passata (pureed tomatoes) and 1 cup of water rinsed out from the passata can or jar, stir. Simmer the sauce down on a medium heat for another 10 to 15 minutes

4. Once the sauce has reduced add the leftover pulled pork to the sauce and leave on the heat for another 5 minutes until heated through then add cooked pasta and toss to coat.

Kitchen notes

• Soffrito soffrito is finely chopped carrot, celery and onion that's slowly cooked until softened and starting to brown. Now THIS is a important step that creates a great depth of flavour to the sauce. Don't be tempted to rush it or you won't see the benefits.
• High-quality tomatoes We've said this so many times because it's SO important if you use cheap tomatoes your sauce will likely be bland and acidic tasting. This is our favourite brand that we use all the time and always gives the most good flavour.
• Using passata/sieved tomatoes passata is much more concentrated than canned chopped tomatoes so it's an easy way to get a rich tomato sauce, fast!

Extra Tips

• Slowly cook the soffrito until soften on medium heat (don't turn up the heat, see the video and step by step photos for reference)
• Reduce the wine down for extra flavour.
• Use pureed tomatoes for rich flavour fast.
• Roughly chop the pulled pork before adding to the sauce.
• You can use any pasta shape for this recipe, we love using a long shape such as bucatini or pappardelle.
• We used 300g (2 cups) of leftover pulled pork but you could also get away with less if you don't have as much.
• Serve with freshly grated parmesan.
• Leftover pulled pork ragu can be stored in the fridge or freezer (without the cooked pasta). To reheat from frozen defrost it completely then reheat on the stove until piping hot all the way through. You may need to add a splash of water to help loosen the sauce.