Meaty Pastas

By Food & Wine
Updated January 11, 2017
From spaghetti with supersize meatballs in marinara sauce to pappardelle with duck ragù, ere are terrific meaty pastas.
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Pasta with Abruzzi-Style Lamb Sauce

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It’s the deep, intense flavor of lamb that sets this sauce apart from other classic meat sauces. So does the fact that the meat is not ground, but cut into small pieces and cooked as you would a stew. This recipe calls for lamb shoulder, but you can use another cut as long as it’s not too lean.

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Orecchiette with Sausage and Cherry Tomatoes

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Using sausage in place of ground meat is a good sauce shortcut, because it's already seasoned. For a salty, creamy finish, Marc Vetri stirs in shredded provolone cheese before serving.

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Potato Gnocchi with Pastrami Ragù

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Rich Torrisi and Mario Carbone put a clever twist on their gnocchi recipe by using deli pastrami in the sauce. Feel free to use it on any kind of pasta.

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Goat Ragù with Fresh Spaghetti

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This savory olive-studded ragù uses goat, a flavorful and sustainable alternative to beef. It’s ultra satisfying tossed with fresh spaghetti or linguine.

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Cavatelli with Sardinian Meat Sauce

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Frozen cavatelli is better than dried. Since this shape is thick and doughy, the dried version tends to get overcooked on the outside before it's done inside. If you can't find cavatelli in the freezer section of your grocery store, a chunky dried pasta such as rigatoni will also be excellent here. Use the same quantity.

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Beef Brasato with Pappardelle and Mint

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Chef Chris Cosentino braises beef shank and oxtail in red wine to make a brasato he serves with house-made mint pappardelle. Instead of oxtail, the dish uses just beef shank. Fresh pappardelle from a store replaces the house-made kind.

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Macaroni-and-Beef Casserole

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This hearty cumin-scented casserole has an irresistible cheesy-crisp topping.

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Whole-Wheat Spaghetti with Sausage and Peppers

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Use mild or hot Italian sausage, according to your preference, in this updated classic. We call for red bell peppers but you can use green or one of each color. Plain spaghetti can replace the whole-wheat, too.

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Orecchiette with Sausage and Chicory

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Chef Michael White uses dandelion greens to give his slightly spicy sausage pasta a bitter edge, but chicory or escarole makes a great stand-in.

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Butcher's Ragù with Fusilli

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This sauce, an ever-so-slightly creamy ragù made with ground beef, pancetta and ham, is flavored with tomato paste instead of canned tomatoes.

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Pasta Salad with Grilled Sausages and Peppers

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Grilled sausage and peppers are tossed with gemelli pasta in this hearty salad.

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Pasta Bolognese

Credit: Fredrika Stjärne
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This pasta Bolognese recipe from Grace Parisi features a traditional combination of ground beef, pork, veal and tomato enriched by smoky pancetta.

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Pappardelle with Lamb Ragù

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Andrew Carmellini serves fresh pappardelle with a ragù of house-ground lamb shoulder cooked in lamb stock. He finishes the dish with fresh ricotta and chopped mint.

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Pappardelle with Duck Ragù

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Chef Marco Canora's pasta with braised duck pair perfectly with a glass of red wine.

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Moroccan Lamb Stew with Noodles

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Paula Wolfert learned a chicken dish called chaariya medfouna from a private cook named Karima. "Chaariya means noodles," Wolfert says. "Medfoun means a surprise or something hidden.” In Paula’s adaptation, the steamed noodles cover tender chunks of lamb spiced with cumin.

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Meat Ravioli

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Use this filling to make easy & meaty ravioli.

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Orecchiette with Veal, Capers and White Wine

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"The sauce fits the pasta," said judge Marc Vetri in praise of this tender veal ragù flavored with white wine, capers, thyme and rosemary, then tossed with the little ear-shaped orecchiette. "The meat, the capers—they hang on to the pasta when you lift up your fork."

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Spaghetti with Fresh Soppressata

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One of the most popular cured meats on restaurant charcuterie boards, soppressata is a hard salami from southern Italy. Andrew Carmellini's family grinds their own meat to make it, but much easier is buying Italian sausages and removing their casings. To give the fresh soppressata extra spice, use hot sausages instead of sweet ones, or increase the amount of crushed red pepper.

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Pappardelle with Veal Ragù

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Ribbons of pappardelle are coated with a long-simmered veal ragù in this recipe. Subtly spiced with fennel and coriander, it’s a deeply satisfying pasta dish.

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Pasta Bolognese

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We find this sauce, which is traditionally simmered for a long time, tastes just as good when cooked for less than half an hour. Now you won't have to consign Bolognese sauce to the lazy Sunday afternoon of cooking that never comes.

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Penne with Veal Ragù

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This is one of food writer and editor Amanda Hesser's favorite things to make after a busy day.

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Supersize Meatballs in Marinara Sauce

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This version of the classic spaghetti dish is topped with a supersize meatball.

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Rabbit Ragout with Soppressata and Pappardelle

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Tom Colicchio perfected the dish here when he was working at Manhattan's Gramercy Tavern, braising the tender rabbit with sweet tomatoes, spicy soppressata and olives.

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Baked Orecchiette with Pork Sugo

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In Italian cuisine, a sugo is a gravy or sauce. Here, Ethan Stowell prepares a pork sugo by braising pork shoulder until it almost falls apart, shredding it in a food processor and mixing it with a red-wine-and-tomato sauce; then he bakes it with orecchiette under a topping of Parmigiano cheese until crispy. The dish is an excellent alternative to the usual baked pasta, because it's not as heavy and cheesy but still delicious and satisfying.

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Fettuccine with Five-Spice Pork and Carrots

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Don't be tempted to cook the pork tenderloin any longer than specified, or you'll risk losing its juicy tenderness. By the time you combine it with the hot carrots and sauce and toss it with the pasta, it will be perfectly done.

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