Eastern Market Inspiration

I think my cooking spirit has returned. I was in a bit of a rut the past few months and posting seemed more like a chore rather than a hobby. Tons of things have been inspiring me lately. I made this lamb ragu month ago and have been dying to share it with you. I would say this is on the medium to hard level for cooking because of all the ingredients and steps. I'll save everyone the time and just post pictures. I got the recipe from Food & Wine magazine and only made a few adjustments.

My inspiration to find the recipe came from a trip to Eastern Market in Washington, D.C. Eastern Market is DC's oldest fresh food market. It's the type of market you would see in Europe. High ceilings, lots of light and tons of chatter, the butcher, the cheese counter, a bakery and everything in between. I wanted fresh and true ingredients. I was not let down.

Porccini Mushroom Pappardelle with Lamb Ragu

Ingredients:

My changes included: Ricotta Salata (harder and more crumbly than regular ricotta) because it's saltier and the cheese counter let us try it and recommended it, additional fresh herbs (thyme, rosemary, oregano) because fresh is usually better, no fennel seeds (couldn't find them), i forgot to picture the red wine but I definitely used it, I also used a few fresh diced tomatoes.

sauteing the vegetables

browning my delicious lamb with the seasonings

adding everything together

fresh tomatoes in addition to canned

letting it simmer

FRESH pasta

assemble all the ingredients into the biggest bowl you can find because you will want a large portion

Take your fork and spin until you have the perfect bite of thick porccini pappardelle and lamb ragu!

Enjoy!!