Best Ever Beef Short Rib Ragu
A rich, flavor packed meat ragu that will blow your friends and family away. The short ribs are slow cooked in the oven until falling apart in a rich red wine and tomato sauce. Serve with your favorite pasta, mash or polenta.
Servings: 4 - 6 people
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1.4 kg beef short ribs 3lbs
- 1 onion finely diced, mine weighed about 190 grams
- 1 carrot finely diced
- 2 sticks celery finely diced
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 500 ml red wine I used a chianti
- 2 x 400 gram cans whole tomatoes hand crushed in a bowl or with a potato masher
- 250 ml beef stock
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 2 sprigs thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- Salt and pepper
- Lemon zest parmesan and chopped flat leaf parsley to serve
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 320f (160c).
- Pat the short ribs dry and season well with salt and pepper.
- Heat two of the tablespoons of olive oil across two fry pans (or do in batches) on a medium-high heat and sear the short ribs on all sides until golden brown and set aside.
- Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in an oven proof casserole pot/Dutch oven over a medium heat. Gently fry the onion, carrot and celery until soft, about 10 mins.
- Lower the heat if you need, it shouldn't be browning.
- Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes.
- Add the tomato paste, mix in well and cook off for 2 minutes.
- Add the wine and bring to a gentle simmer for a few mins, it doesn't need to reduce.
- Add the tomatoes and stock and bring to a simmer.
- Add the short ribs back in with the bay leaves and herb sprigs.
- There should be enough liquid that the beef is mostly covered (look at photos above for reference). Add more stock if you need.
- Cover and place in the oven for 3 - 3.5 hours. Check it at 3 hours but it will probably need the extra 30 mins. The bones should slide out easily from the meat when it is ready.
- Pull the meat out, discard the bones and pull the meat apart with two forks.
- Discard any big pieces of fat (get rid of the herb stalks too)and also each piece might have a little sinewy layer that should be discarded too. (photos above for guide on this)
- Add the pulled meat back into the pot and let it really gently bubble away on the stove top while you cook your pasta.
- I like to add the cooked pasta straight into the ragu with a splash of pasta water and let it gently bubble away for a good few minutes.
- Portion wise, I allow a heaped cup of sauce per person so you can portion it out before adding pasta, depending on how many people you are serving.
- I love to serve with some grated lemon zest on top (trust me on this), some chopped fresh italian parsley and parmesan.
Notes
Make ahead - I love making a meat sauce the day before as the flavor just develops more overnight. It will solidify in fridge but will be perfect when gently reheated. Add a splash of pasta water if you need when reheating.
Serving - Serve with pasta, mashed potato, polenta or anything you like! On top of a simple risotto would also be to die for.
Oven temp - I highly recommend getting an oven thermometer, our ovens often lie to us!