Alright, so I decided to mess around with my usual wild boar ragu recipe the other day. Felt like adding something different, landed on bison. Got everything laid out first, which always helps me think.
I grabbed the wild boar meat I had, and a decent chunk of bison shoulder. Probably close to a fifty-fifty mix, maybe a little heavier on the boar side. Then the standard base stuff: a couple of onions, some carrots, celery stalks. You know, the usual mirepoix grind. Had a tube of tomato paste, a big can of crushed tomatoes ready. Pulled a bottle of basic red wine off the rack, nothing fancy. Beef broth was needed too. And of course, garlic, bay leaves, salt, pepper. Olive oil for the pan.
Getting Started
First thing, I got chopping. Diced up the onions, carrots, and celery fairly small. Put that bowl aside. Then I cut the bison and the wild boar into rough cubes, maybe an inch or so. Didn’t need to be perfect.
Got my big, heavy Dutch oven heating up on the stove with a good slug of olive oil. Once it was shimmering hot, I threw in the bison cubes. Didn’t crowd the pan, did it in batches. Just wanted a real nice brown crust on all sides. Scooped the bison out with a slotted spoon and set it aside. Then did the exact same thing with the wild boar meat. Lots of good brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pot – that’s where the flavor lives.
Building the Ragu
Okay, meat was browned and resting. Lowered the heat a bit and tossed the chopped onion, carrot, and celery mix right into the same pot. All that leftover fat and meat drippings. Stirred it constantly, scraping up those brown bits from the bottom. Let the veggies sweat down and get soft, maybe took 10 minutes? Needed them really tender.
Once the veggies were soft, I cleared a little space in the center of the pot and squeezed in a good blob of tomato paste, maybe two or three tablespoons. Stirred that into the veggies and let it cook for a minute or two. Helps it darken up and lose that raw tomato taste.
Then, dumped the browned bison and wild boar back into the pot, juices and all. Gave everything a really good stir, getting the meat coated with the veggies and paste.
The Simmering Part
Turned the heat up slightly and poured in a generous glug of the red wine. Let it bubble and reduce for a few minutes, scraping the bottom again. You want that alcohol smell to mostly cook off. Then came the big can of crushed tomatoes, poured that right in. Added enough beef broth so the liquid just about covered the meat and veggies. If it looked dry, I knew I could add more later.
Tossed in a few cloves of minced garlic, a couple of bay leaves, a good pinch of salt, and plenty of fresh cracked black pepper. Stirred it all together one last time.
Brought the whole thing up to a gentle simmer. As soon as I saw bubbles, I dropped the heat to the absolute lowest setting on my stove. Put the lid on, but left it slightly ajar, just cracked. And then? Walked away.
Patience and Finishing Up
This isn’t a quick thing. It needed to simmer low and slow for a long time. I let it go for at least three hours. Checked on it every hour or so, gave it a stir to make sure nothing was sticking to the bottom. The smell filling the kitchen was incredible, deep and meaty. Added a splash more broth around the two-hour mark because it looked like it was getting a bit thick.
Finally, after about three and a half hours, the meat was ridiculously tender. Like, falling apart if you looked at it funny. The sauce was thick, rich, and a deep dark red color. Fished out the bay leaves – definitely don’t want to bite into those. Tasted it for seasoning. Added a tiny bit more salt and pepper. That was it.
Served it the classic way. Cooked up some wide pasta, pappardelle is my go-to for a chunky sauce like this. Piled a huge ladleful of the bison and wild boar ragu over the pasta. Grated a mountain of Parmesan cheese on top. Had some crusty bread nearby for mopping duty. The bison worked great, added a slightly leaner, maybe sweeter note next to the boar. Really good depth of flavor overall. A successful experiment.
