GameKeeper Venison Ragu

Nathan Dunst

I love using stew meat for things like this, you know this a lot of times goes in deer sausage, you know, I think this is a great way to utilize it in a little bit different way. So, first thing we’re going to do is we’re going to brown off the venison. You want to make this dish in a Dutch oven that you’re going to cook it all the way through. I say that because you want to develop the flavors in that dish. We’re not wanting to cook the meat all the way through. We’re just wanting to again, get the outside browned up, develop some flavor on the outside. Okay, so we’ve been just kind of browning this this venison meat up.

2 lbs venison stew meat

2 Cups White Onions

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

2 Cups Bell Pepper

3 each Garlic Cloves

1 Tablespoon Thyme

1 Tablespoon Oregano

1 Cup Red Wine

1/3 Cup Tomato Paste

1 16 oz can Diced Tomatoes

3 Cups Beef Broth / Stock 

salt & pepper

3 Tablespoons Fresh Basil

1 lb Rotini (or other short pasta) 

Okay, so we’ve been just kind of browning this this venison meat up.We’re actually going to remove the meat out of the bowl. Turn it down to medium heat. We’re going to add a little bit more olive oil. In goes your onions, got medium diced onions. We’re going to let this cook in the pan. As they become translucent and as those onions start to cook and release moisture, you’re going to see some of what’s called fond the browning on the bottom of that pan start to come up and again that just adds so much flavor to the dish. Once those onions become soft, translucent, then we’re going to add some bell peppers, some green bell pepper, I like to cut a larger dice with the bell pepper. With the onions I want them to cook down in the sauce. So whenever you’re eating the pasta, you don’t necessarily see the onions but you get a taste the flavor the onion, a little bit of garlic goes in as well. Next we’re going to add some herbs. So we’ve got thyme and oregano. We’re going to add that to it.

Next, as these as the vegetables are done sautéing, we’re going to deglaze the pan with red wine and let that reduce by about half. All right, now that the wines reduced, we’re going to add the tomato paste. Stir it in with the wine, and I’m just going to let that cook for about a minute. Now we’re going to add the meat back to the pain. And then to that we’re going to add diced tomatoes. And you can use again beef stock, bone broth, chicken stock, whatever you have, whatever you prefer to use, and one bay leaf. I’m going to put it in an oven or I’m using my grill today. So I’m going to put it in with no lid. Just let it go to 375 degrees and just let it braise away, and this is going to take several hours. It really depends on what you’re using. But again, you just got to cook it until its fork tinder when it comes out.

So the ragu has been in the smoker for about two and a half hours at 275 degrees. I’m going to check on it, see if it’s ready to go. So you can see the sauce has reduced down. That’s why I like to cook this without a lid on it because you want that braising liquid to kind of cook out as it cooks. So I’m just going to take this basil roll it up. There we cut it really thin strips. It’s called chiffonade.

We’re going to take all that we’ll toss it right in there at that Ragu. I’ve actually cooked this pretty much till it’s done. And then I’m just going to fold it into the ragu and it may not need at all it’s just depends on how much it’s reduced down and how much it’ll take. You don’t want it to be all pasta either. You know you really want the venison ragu to be the kind of shining star. Just to help the sauce, kind of coat the past a little bit, I’m going to add just a touch a butter. Alright, so once the pasta is well incorporated looks like there’s enough sauce for it all. We’re going to take this off to heat, pile it up on a share plate here. And I’m just going to garnish this with a little bit this basil right out of the garden. It’s just perfect. So I’m going to take some of the smaller leaves and garnish it up.

All right, so that’s our venison Ragu with rotini pasta, and some fresh basil.