A slow cook beef ragu recipe is far away from what you normally would be craving for in the height of summer. But the weather has been so dreadful throughout July – cold and endless rain – this rich and flavoursome dish really does hit the spot.
In essence, you make a delicious meaty sauce and then stuff it inside the giant pasta shells. You can go several ways in how to serve it. You could sit the ragù stuffed pasta shells in a layer of tomato sauce within a baking dish. Then cover liberally with cheese – cheddar, Parmesan and mozzarella all work well – and bake until oozing and golden. It’s utterly delicious but it’s definitely cold weather food and a real stomach filler.
The second option – which I’ve chosen today – is a bit lighter. The ragù is stuffed into the pasta shells and served simply with a drizzle of olive oil, grated Parmesan and a scattering of basil leaves. A perky green salad makes a nice accompaniment, too. Add a few side other dishes to make more of a feast, as I’ve done here in my sample meat menu.
It’s a simple dish to make but it does take time. I assure you it’s worth it. But there’s also a few things you can do to maximise the flavour and produce something really tasty.
The cut
I use beef shin – on or off the bone – which has a fair amount of fat and sinew. Fat is our friend here. I cook it whole – the longer it takes to cook the better it will taste. The meat is braised slowly over several hours until the fat and sinew break down and it becomes meltingly tender and flavoursome.
I talk more about browning the meat in my Flavour is King article. It’s essential to refrain from moving the meat around too much in the pan and therefore allowing a crust – and flavour – to develop. Ideally do this in a heavy bottomed cast iron pan which distributes the heat well. All those slightly charred crusty bits stuck on the bottom of the pan are flavour! Be sure to scrape them off when deglazing the pan with wine.
The base
Once the meat has been coloured and removed from the pan, a base of finely chopped onion, celery and carrot is gently sweated until pearlescent and beginning to soften. Add woody herbs such as rosemary or thyme, along with chopped garlic. Then red wine, beef stock and sun dried tomato paste and tomatoes are added in, as well as a dollop of black garlic paste. This is optional but it adds more richness and an umami flavour.
Slow cooking
Now you can sit back and let the oven do the work. The dish gets braised in the oven on a low temperature for 2.5 hours, or until the meat is falling apart and beautifully tender. Remove the lid for another half an hour to reduce the liquid and concentrate the flavours. Once it has thickened up, remove from the oven. Adjust the seasoning at this point. Meanwhile, boil the pasta shells and, when cool enough to handle, stuff them with the ragù sauce using a spoon and serve.
Get ahead of the game
You can prepare the dish ahead of time. In fact, the ragù tastes even better the day after cooking. Boil the pasta until just cooked and dress in a little olive oil to prevent them from sticking together. Store in the fridge until needed. When you’re ready to serve, boil some more water in a saucepan and reheat your sauce. Drop the pasta in boiling water for 30 seconds, drain and stuff with the reheated sauce.
If you didn’t have pasta shells, there’s all sorts of uses for ragù sauce – lasagne, baked potatoes, cottage pie, shortcrust pasty pie, add some spices and turn into a curry, serve on courgetti or even on toast! Yes, I’ve done this and it was delicious.
As you can see, it’s a versatile recipe to have up your sleeve and not just reserved for the colder, winter months. Happy slow cooking!
Ingredients
2-3 tbsp olive oil
650g beef shin off the bone (1kg on the bone)
1 onion, finely chopped
1 large carrot, finely chopped
2 celery sticks, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 rosemary stalks, leaves chopped
1 heaped tbsp sun-dried tomato paste
250ml red wine
½ tbsp black garlic paste (optional)
40og chopped tomatoes
300ml beef stock
300g giant pasta shells
To serve
Grated Parmesan
Basil leaves
Salad leaves
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3 and season the beef all over. Heat a heavy based casserole over a medium-high heat. Add 1 tbsp oil then brown the beef all over until you have a good dark colour, in batches if you need to. Transfer the beef to a plate while you continue. Turn the heat down to low.
- Add 1 tbsp more oil. Add the onion, carrot and celery along with a pinch of salt. If the pan is too hot, remove from the heat for a minute to let it cool down and avoid the veg from catching. Cook for 8 mins or so, stirring now and then, until becoming soft and translucent. Stir in the garlic and rosemary and cook for a few mins more.
- Stir in the tomato paste and cook for a further 3 mins. Add the wine, black garlic, if using, chopped tomatoes and stock. Add a touch of seasoning and bring to the boil. Stir the beef back into the pot and reduce to a simmer.
- Cover and put in the middle of the oven for 2 hrs 30 mins. Remove the lid, stir and put back in the oven, uncovered, for 30 mins. The meat should be very tender. Use two fork to roughly shred the beef. Check the seasoning and adjust if needed. Serve now, or chill until needed.
- If you’re serving now, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta until al a dente. Drain and when cool enough to handle, stuff the beef sauce into the shells with a spoon. Serve drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, a good grating of Parmesan and a scattering of basil leaves.
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