A delicate, lighter and more subtle version of the traditional ragù sauce that we are all familiar with like the heartier, heavier, redder and spicier “ragù bolognese” and you’ll understand why if you read ahead and if you venture to prepare this delight yourself !

It all begins with the meat, white meat to be more precise. I’ve enjoyed this preparation with rabbit, chicken as well as veal. The approach, when using whiter meats needs to be more delicate than when using a stronger mixture of redder meats and sausages and often liver too, which I also love. This sauce is different.

I use roasted chicken thighs, including the flavorful crispy chicken skins, to add depth, fat and gelatin to the sauce. The meat is finely shredded because I prefer chunkier sauces but using ground chicken is obviously easier and quicker.

The soffritto, usually prepared with onions, carrots and celery is more complex with the addition of mushrooms, leeks and shallots. The anchovies and herbs, simmered in the recuperated chicken fat, as well as olive oil, makes it more complete and deeper.

Then comes the binding element which in this case is the roasted eggplant flesh instead of tomatoes. The flesh, after roasting is similar in texture to tomatoes and combines the sauce beautifully and creamily by adding freshness but without adding extra fats to bring it all together.

And of course, the stage-by-stage addition of the liquids to the soffritto and shredded meat mixture such as the white wine at the beginning, followed by the chicken stock and then the eggplant purée and finally the very important addition of dairy, in this case light cream, added little by little at the end, while stirring, to sear and caramelize the mixture at high heat and truly make it a ragù sauce.

A ragù tends to be smoother but since I’m using shredded meat instead of ground meat, it seemed like a good idea to add additional chunkier elements such as more mixed mushrooms, whether whole or sliced and thicker leek slices, all fried and added only in the end to retain their shapes and textures.

Once the sauce is ready, you decide if it will be served with short or long pasta (I love bucatini which is like very thick spaghetti with a hole in the middle) or used in a lasagna or other oven-baked pasta dish.

I usually prepare the whole recipe and reserve half of the sauce for pasta (that I conserve in sterilized jars) and the other half for a very special 8-serving size white lasagna ! But you’ll have to wait another 2 weeks for me to publish that lasagna recipe, because I’m focusing on a crazy, 4 mission work marathon now, but I’ll finish it up soon !

Take the time to understand and make this recipe and tell me all about it too ! … :)

p.s.: and if you're interested in other ragù and/or bolognese sauce recipes, then click here or here or here !

«ragù bianco» pasta sauce with roasted & shredded chicken & creamy eggplant & mushrooms & leeks

24.02.2024

2,5 kg or 11 cups

ingredients

meat (500 grams or 5 cups roasted meat + 60 grams or 1 cup crisped chicken skins) :

1 kg (6 whole) upper chicken thighs (with bones & skins)
30 ml (2 tbsp) white wine vinegar
15 grams (1 tbsp) fine sea salt
2 grams (¾ tsp) ground black pepper
2 grams (½ tsp) baking powder

eggplants (775 grams or 3 ½ cups roasted flesh) :

1,5 kg (4 whole) eggplants, pierced
5 ml (1 tsp) white wine vinegar
10 ml (2 tsp) olive oil
7,5 grams (1 ½ tsp) fine sea salt

soffritto base (400 grams or 1 ¾ cups) :

45 ml (3 tbsp) chicken fat, recuperated from roast chicken
45 ml (3 tbsp) olive oil
2 grams (2 large) fresh bay leaves
2 grams (2 large) fresh sage leaves
5 grams (2 whole) salt-cured anchovies
2 grams (1 small branch) fresh rosemary
100 grams (1 cup) white mushrooms, finely grated
100 grams (1 cup) carrot, finely grated
100 grams (1 cup) leek, finely grated
100 grams (½ cup) shallots, finely grated
50 grams (¼ cup) celery, finely grated
25 grams (3 large cloves) garlic, crushed
10 grams (2 tsp) fine sea salt
2 grams (¾ tsp) black ground pepper

liquids & creams :

120 ml (½ cup) white wine
360 ml (1 ½ cups) home-made chicken broth (including the gelatin)
575 grams (2 ½ cups) roasted and chopped eggplant purée
240 ml (1 cup) light cream (15% fat)
optional : 20 grams (1 small piece) parmesan rind

fresh herbs :

6 grams (3 tbsp) mixed fresh herbs : flat-leaf parsley, sage, rosemary, coarsely chopped (or 1 tbsp mixed dried herbs)

chunky vegetables (optional) addition (cooked weight is 225 grams or 1 ½ cups) :

200 grams (2 cups) mixed mushrooms (fresh, frozen, canned or dried and rehydrated), thick slices
100 grams (1 cup) leeks, thick slices
30 ml (2 tbsp) olive oil
5 grams (1 tsp) fine sea salt

instructions

chicken :

bring the chicken thighs to room temperature for 30 minutes, then spray or brush with the white vinegar and let sit them sit on a rack for 15 minutes, then sprinkle with the mixture of salt, black pepper and baking powder and place back on the rack and in the refrigerator uncovered for 12 hours
preheat the oven 230°C
remove the chicken thighs from the refrigerator and let them come to room temperature for 30 minutes, then place on a rack over a baking dish covered with a large sheet of baking paper (to recuperate all the roasting juices) and roast the chicken thighs, skin side up, on the middle rack for 10 minutes, then turn them over and roast the underside for 10 minutes, then lower the oven heat to 200°C and roast skin side-up again for another 10 minutes
remove the roast chicken thighs from the oven, recuperate the juices (the liquid fat will separate and float on top of the thicker gelatin that will be on the bottom) by grabbing the ends of the baking paper and pouring into a small cup (about 4 tbsp), let the thighs cool down, remove the skins, chop them up finely or crumble them and set them aside (about 1 cup or 60 grams) and finally separate the chicken meat (about 500 grams or 5 cups) from the bones (about 100 grams) and finely shred the meat with 2 forks and set aside

eggplants :

preheat the oven to 210°C
pierce the eggplants everywhere (about 20 tiny holes in each), place them on a baking sheet covered with baking paper and roast on the middle or top rack for 60 minutes, turning them by one quarter every 15 minutes, then remove when collapsed, place in a paper bag or wrap with aluminum foil and let them cool down completely, then slice in half, scrape out the flesh, finely chop up with a knife, then sprinkle with some salt and add some white vinegar and olive oil, mix and set aside in a bowl and cover

soffritto :

add the chicken fat and some olive oil to a sauté pan and add the anchovies, the rosemary branch and the bay and sage leaves and heat at medium-high heat for 2 minutes, then add the finely chopped or grated shallots, leek, celery, carrots and mushrooms and simmer for 10-15 minutes until softened, then add the crushed garlic, salt and pepper and simmer for another 2 minutes and keep warm

sauce assembly :

add the shredded chicken and three-quarters of the chopped chicken skins (you should reserve some as a topping) and simmer at medium-high heat for 5 minutes, then add the white wine and stir and cook until almost evaporated for 2-3 minutes, then add the chicken broth (and a small piece or parmesan rind) and keep cooking for 5-7 minutes until the liquid is at least half absorbed, remove the bay and sage leaves and the rosemary branch, lower the heat to medium and add the chopped eggplant and more fresh (or dried) herbs and cook for 5 minutes while stirring, then increase the heat back to medium-high (or slightly higher) and add the light cream in 4 additions or 2 tbsp at a time and cook and stir until there’s a searing sound (2 minutes later) and repeat 3 more times until all the cream is used up (8 minutes total) and remove the piece of parmesan rind
for a chunkier sauce, thickly slice some leek and larger mixed mushrooms and fry up for several minutes in a separate pan with olive oil, salt and pepper and then add them to the warm sauce, away from the heat and stir until well combined
*note : the sauce is ready to be used with short or long pasta or for a lasagna or for storing (while hot) in equally hot sterilized jars or in freezer bags when completely cooled down …
boil the pasta (I used bucatini) in salted water until done, then reserve some of the pasta water (2 tbsp per serving) and strain the pasta, add the pasta water to the heated sauce and then toss everything together and serve, sprinkled with some fresh herbs and grated parmesan or pecorino and crispy chopped chicken skins
*note : a good ratio for one serving of 100 grams of dry pasta, which will become 225 grams of cooked pasta is 225 grams (1 cup) or more (275 grams) of sauce …

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«ragù bianco» pasta sauce with roasted & shredded chicken & creamy eggplant & mushrooms & leeks

2,5 kg or 11 cups

ingredients

instructions

«ragù bianco» pasta sauce with roasted & shredded chicken & creamy eggplant & mushrooms & leeks

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