Goat Ragu w/ Prekese

The inspiration for this recipe came from Josie, the Law School Secretary while I was at the University of Greenwich studying my LLB. Josie shared with me the secret of her Italian family’s slow-cooked steak ragu with mashed broccoli and garlic, and I’ve never cooked ragu with ground meat since! The addition of guinea peppers and prekese to the stew gives it a certain lift and depth of Ghanaian flavour as well as a myriad of health benefits - check out my article on Prekese on TODAYSHOW for more. This is a low and slow cook, but it’s worth the wait. If you can’t find Goat meat go for some mutton or beef brisket.

SERVES 4

Ingredients

1 tablespoon sunflower or rapeseed oil 

2 onions, diced 

3 garlic cloves, very finely chopped or grated 

3 bay leaves 

1 tablespoon chopped rosemary 

1 tablespoon dried chilli flakes 

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg 

1 teaspoon dried oregano or dried mixed herbs 1 teaspoon sugar 

450g (1lb) boneless leg of kid goat, cubed 

good pinch of sea salt and 

1 teaspoon coarsely ground Alligator Pepper, or more to taste 

150ml (5fl oz) red wine 2 tablespoons tomato purée 

10 large plum tomatoes, diced, or 400g (14oz) can plum tomatoes 

8 guinea peppers, cracked open 

1 medium sized prekese (just cut the pods into pieces and remove before serving or you can grind it and add it your cooking in powder form)

175ml (6fl oz) good-quality beef stock, or about 100ml (3.fl oz) if using fresh tomatoes 

2 carrots, peeled (if not organic) and grated 

sprig of basil, to garnish 

MASHED BROCCOLI 

2 heads of broccoli, cut into chunks (including stems) 

cooking salt 25g (1oz) 

Spiced Baobab Butter (1/2 teaspoon Baobab Powder and 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper added to 30g salted butter)

2 garlic cloves, very finely chopped 

Heat the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a medium-low heat, 

add the onions and gently sauté for 6–7 minutes until soft and translucent. 

Stir in the garlic, bay leaves, rosemary, prekese, chilli flakes, nutmeg, oregano or mixed herbs and sugar and sauté for a further 3 minutes. 

Increase the heat to medium-high, add the kid goat and leave to brown for a few minutes, then season with the sea salt and pepper. 

Pour in the red wine and stir to deglaze the pan, scraping up all the residue from the base, then add the tomato purée, tomatoes and guinea peppers and top up with the beef stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 2. hours. 

About 20 minutes before the end of the cooking time, stir in the grated carrots 

and check the seasoning, adding extra sea salt and black pepper if required. 

At this point, add the broccoli to a saucepan of salted boiling water and 

cook for 4–5 minutes until fork tender. Drain and mash loosely with a fork 

together with the butter and garlic.

Remove and discard the guinea peppers and prekese pieces from the ragu before transferring it to a large sharing bowl for people to help themselves. Garnish with the basil and serve with some warmed sliced baguette and mashed broccoli. Delicious!