Short Rib Ragu over Tagliatelle Pasta

For weeks I had been craving short ribs, which is weird because I think I have only eaten them twice in my whole life.  I really wanted a rich meaty sauce over noodles. Short ribs seemed like the perfect thing.

These short ribs take some time but they are totally worth it! They were rich and creamy and wonderful.

What you need,

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4 large short ribs, try to choose really meaty ones

1 oz. dried porcini mushrooms

½ cup boiling water

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 cup onion, diced

1 cup celery, diced

1 cup carrots, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp. anchovy paste

1 cup red wine

2 tbsp. tomato paste

1 cup tomato sauce (I used Hunt’s onion, herb and spices)

1 tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tbsp. dried rosemary

2 tbsp. chopped fresh thyme

½ bunch of fresh parsley, chopped

2 bay leaves

1 piece Parmesan cheese rind (optional but it’s awesome, do it!)

3-4 cups low sodium beef stock

Salt and Pepper

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Start by placing the porcini mushrooms in a small bowl and covering them with the boiling water. Let them soak while you prepare the other ingredients.

In a large Dutch oven pot heat the oil over medium high heat.

Pat the short ribs dry with a paper towel and season on all sides with salt and pepper.

Brown the short ribs on each side until a nice dark crust forms, 3-4 minutes.

Remove the ribs from the pan and place on a plate.

Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of fat from the pan, and reduce the heat to medium.

 Add the onions, celery and carrot to the pan and sauté until tender, about 10-12 minutes.

Add the garlic and anchovy paste to the pan and stir around for 1 minute until fragrant.

Add the red wine to the pan and scrape up any brown bits off the bottom of the pan.  Add a little salt and pepper at this point, about ½ teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.

To the pan add the mushrooms and their liquid, beef stock, tomato sauce, tomato paste, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, oregano, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, parsley and Parmesan rind. Stir well to combine. Add the ribs back to the pan and nestle them down in the sauce until they are covered.

Bring the liquid to a boil, then cover the pan and place it in the oven to cook for 3 to 3½ hours or until the meat starts to fall of the bone and is perfectly tender.

Remove the pan from the oven and carefully remove the ribs to a plate. They should be falling apart, this is a good thing!

Let the ribs cool for a few minutes while you fish the bay leaves and the Parmesan rind out of the sauce.

Pull the meat off the slightly cooled ribs and place in a bowl.

Put the whole bowl of rib meat and the whole pan of sauce in the fridge overnight.

Remove the sauce from the fridge and reheat over medium low heat for 1 hour or until it is warm and bubbling. Using an immersion blender puree the sauce until smooth. Add the rib meat back to the sauce and continue to heat for another 30 minutes. Season the salt with additional salt and pepper if needed. Toss in a handful of chopped fresh parsley right before serving.

While the sauce is simmering cook your pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Serve the ragu over a pile of Tagliatelle pasta; grate some Parmesan cheese over the top.

I can’t even tell you how amazing this was. So hearty and rich, just what I had been craving.

Worth every bit of cooking time‼

Enjoy!

Jen

Recipe slightly adapted from Closet Cooking