The Tender Braised Pork Ragù That Brought Me Back to Myself During Postpartum Depression

Jenny Rosenstrach describes her Pork Shoulder Ragù as an “instant dinner party,” so it is hard for me to remember what willed me to cook it for the first time 10 years ago. I was home on maternity leave, nursing a newborn in a new house, with no dinner party plans in sight. I recall that January as one of the darkest of my life, not just because it was cold and dark, but because as first-time mom, I didn’t know what postpartum depression would look like.

I distinctly remember how Jenny’s writing made me feel hope in the dark of a late-night feeding session — Dinner: A Love Story on my phone in one hand and a fussy baby in the other arm — so I flagged the recipe to make later. “I will get to cook for pleasure again, ” I assured myself. It was weeks before I actually gathered the ingredients and energy to cook this Pork Shoulder Ragù, but everything about making it for the first time was so restorative that this is now the recipe I reach for time and time again when I need to come back to myself.

Buy the book: Dinner: A Love Story

Braising is a powerful cooking technique that uses long, slow heat to turn tough cuts of meat and hardy vegetables into tender, delicious bites. Even before trying Jenny’s pork ragù I was versed in throwing a pork shoulder or short ribs in the oven for a long braise, mostly using the results to feed friends and my husband’s family.

This pork shoulder ragù follows many of the classic steps for any braise: You season a pork shoulder roast with salt and pepper before browning it in a mixture of olive oil and butter in a Dutch oven. The golden-brown pork shoulder comes out of the pot, then aromatics like onion, carrots, and celery go into the pot to soften. Next up is a combination of herbs, tomato paste, wine and broth, which go into the pot before the pork shoulder goes back in. The lid goes on the Dutch oven and the whole thing goes into the oven for hours.

What happens during those three to four hours while the pork braises is pretty magical: The house gets perfumed with the hypnotizing smell of onions, garlic, wine, and fennel and you really start looking forward to dinner. Other worries and stress seem to melt away as the pork shoulder softens in the oven.

The first time I made Jenny’s pork ragù my husband and I ate it directly from the pot with buttered bread while the baby slept. We were exhausted new parents who couldn’t even bother to boil water for pasta. I’m not sure what it was, but something about that dinner loosened my shoulders and helped me let my guard down enough to tell my husband I was struggling and I needed help with what we later learned was postpartum depression. Ten years (and another kid!) later, we still make this pork shoulder every January to celebrate our daughter’s birthday, and we even break it out for guests every once in a while, too. The combination of slow-braised pork and tender pappardelle is pure comfort for both my tastebuds and my heart.