Ground-pork meatballs simmered in a dark, velvety, lightly sweet-and-spiced gravy thickened with toasted flour. A quintessential winter and holiday dish, the warm clove-and-cinnamon seasoning is uniquely Quebecois.
Ragoût de boulettes is a quintessential winter and holiday dish of rural Quebec. Ground-pork (or pork-and-beef) meatballs are simmered in a dark, velvety gravy thickened with toasted flour, roux grillé, and seasoned with the signature warm spices of cinnamon and cloves, often from a pre-mixed épices à ragoût. The clove-and-cinnamon profile is uniquely Quebecois, from the old French-Canadian spice cupboard, and the dish is frequently served during les Fêtes, often combined with pork trotters as ragoût de boulettes et de pattes.
Tender, savory meatballs in a dark, silky, deeply savory gravy with a warm back-note of clove and cinnamon, the toasted-flour thickness giving it body. Eaten with mashed potatoes, it is hearty, warming and the taste of a Quebec winter.
The defining technique is the toasted-flour roux: flour is toasted dry in a pan until deep brown, which both colours and flavours the gravy and gives it a silky thickness without tasting raw. The meatballs are browned first, then simmered in broth thickened with the toasted roux and seasoned with the warm spices. The long simmer melds the spice into the gravy and tenderises the meatballs.
Variations
A version with pork trotters adds ragoût de pattes. Some cooks use beef alongside pork.
On the Palate
Where Ragoût de Boulettes sits in the Canadian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 8
How it's made
6 steps · 40 min
- 112 min
For the meatballs, mix 600g ground pork, 1 egg, 1 chopped onion, 50g breadcrumbs, 1 tsp salt and pepper; form into 24 meatballs.
- 210 min
Toast 80g flour in a dry pan over medium heat, stirring, until deep brown and nutty, about 10 minutes; set aside.
Watch outToast the flour dry until it's deep brown and smells nutty — that browned flour is what colours and flavours the gravy; stop at pale and it tastes of raw flour.
- 38 min
Brown the meatballs in 3 tbsp oil in a heavy pot; set aside.
- 46 min
Whisk the toasted flour into 1 litre beef stock; add to the pot with 1 tsp cinnamon, 1 tsp cloves and salt; bring to a simmer.
- 530 min
Return the meatballs; simmer covered 1 hour until the gravy is thick and velvety.
Watch outSimmer covered a full hour so the toasted roux thickens to velvet and the warm spice melds in — rushed, the gravy stays thin and the cinnamon-clove edge sits raw.
- 64 min
Taste, adjust salt, and serve hot with mashed potatoes.
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