Monday, 9 March 2015

SLOW COOKED SHREDDED BEEF RAGU PASTA

The Italians ar genius. I systematically marvel at however a hunk of low cost beef, a few of storage room staples and quarter-hour of active effort will manufacture one thing as luscious as this.

To me, a slow barbecued ragu is that the final nutrient. I’m not simply speech communication that to win over you the way delicious this alimentary paste is. you may ne\'er scan those words once more on this diary. Ragu has been my favorite slow barbecued dish for a minimum of a decade currently, and that i don’t see myself ever-changing my mind anytime within the predictable future. I am, after all, a creature of habit. :)

The sheer awesomeness of Italian food is admittedly showcased in dishes like this. a few of everyday ingredients, straightforward homework, barbecued long and slow = eye-rollingly delicious food. look into it! look into however wealthy the ragu sauce is!

For this one I’m sharing with you, I even visited the trouble of paying a pair of minutes to dice carrots and celery therefore I might build it employing a soffritto that may be a classic Italian base for several slow barbecued dishes. you just sauté them over low heat with onion and garlic so that they sweeten and unleash flavour into the oil. once you style the ragu, you may notice that there\'s one thing totally different concerning it. You can’t quite place your finger on specifically what it\'s, however you only understand it tastes better!

BUT rest assured it\'s still stellar even while not creating the soffritto, and to be honest, I most likely build ragu additional usually while not it as a result of celery isn’t a part of my customary weekly search.

This makes lots as a result of it’s one amongst those dishes wherever you won’t get an equivalent result creating it in smaller quantities because it cooks too quick. however it freezes therefore well, and leftovers ar fantastic for turning into different dishes. Over future few weeks, I’ll share a pie created with the leftover ragu sauce additionally as fritters created with leftover ragu mixed through alimentary paste (you could be dubious at the sound of fritters created with leftover alimentary paste, however I promise you, they\'re ludicrously delicious with the additional advantage of being child friendly!).

PREP TIME
COOK TIME
TOTAL TIME
 
Ragu is one of those recipes that really showcases the beauty of Italian cooking - everyday ingredients, fast prep, leave it to cook long and slow and you end up with a luscious dish that tastes like a million bucks. This recipe makes around 8 cups of Ragu but you'll only need around 5 cups for a whole packet of pasta which serves around 6 people (or 4 people with very large appetites!). I made this with spaghetti because that's all I had. But it is more commonly served with rigatoni or pappardelle because the shreds of beef "clings" better to the pasta. This recipe is based on classic slow cooked ragu recipes from Italian greats including Lidia Bastianich, Stafano Manfredi. It is not an exact replica of any, but is similar to many!
Author: 
Recipe type: Pasta, Slow Cooked
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 6
INGREDIENTS
Ragu
  • 2.5lb / 1.2kg beek brisket or any other slow cooking beef, cut into equal 4 pieces (Note 1)
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • Black pepper
  • 3 tbsp olive oil, separated
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 cup carrots, diced (optional) (Note 2)
  • 1 cup celery, diced (optional) (Note 2)
  • 28oz/800g crushed canned tomatoes
  • 3 tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 beef bouillon cubes (Note 3)
  • 3 cups water (Note 3)
  • 3 dried bay leaves
  • Extra salt and pepper, to taste
To Serve
  • 1lb/500g dried spaghetti or other pasta of choice (rigatoni and pappardelle are ideal)
  • Freshly grated parmesan cheese or parmigiano reggiano
  • Fresh parsley, finely chopped (optional)
 Method
  1. Pat beef dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper
  2. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil over high heat in a heavy based pot. Add beef and sear each piece on all sides until browned (around 3 minutes in total), then remove onto a plate.
  3. Turn stove down to medium low and add remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil.
  4. Add garlic and onion and sauté for 2 minutes. Then add the carrots and celery and sauté slowly for 5 minutes.
  5. Add remaining Ragu ingredients (except extra salt and pepper) and return the beef to the pot (add the juices too). Turn the stove up and bring it to a simmer, then turn it down to low. Cover the pot and let it cook for 1 hr 45 minutes. Then remove the lid and let it cook for a further 30 minutes until the beef is tender enough to pull apart with forks and the liquid has reduced to be a thick sauce.
  6. Turn the stove off and remove the beef from the sauce into a large bowl. Shred it coarsely with two forks. Then return it to the sauce. Place the lid on and set aside until ready to serve (it's even better the next day!).
To Serve
  1. Bring a very large pot of water with 1 tbsp of salt to the boil.
  2. Add pasta and cook for 2 minutes less than the recommended cooking time as per the packet instructions.
  3. Meanwhile, place 5 cups of the Ragu in a very large fry pan, or use 2 normal size fry pans. (Note 4) Heat over high heat while the pasta is cooking.
  4. When the pasta is ready, transfer it directly from the pot into the fry pan using tongs.
  5. Add 1 cup of pasta water into the fry pan.
  6. Gently toss the pasta (I use 2 wooden spoons) for 1 to 2 minutes, until the sauce water evaporates and leaves you with a thick Ragu sauce that coats the pasta.
  7. Yell for your family to sit down at the dinner table because you need to serve it immediately!
  8. Serve with plenty of freshly grated parmesan, or even better, with parmigiano reggiano.

NOTES
1. Cut the meat into four items that ar round the size of a baseball. The cook time of this instruction assumes you are doing this. In Australia, you\'ll be able to obtain chuck and different slow change of state beef turn over cubes or into thick slices. If you employ cubes, scale back the change of state time by half-hour, and simply be aware that it takes slightly longer to shred as a result of you are operating with voluminous items of beef. If victimization thick pre sliced beef, simply use them as is and scale back the change of state time by around quarter-hour about.

2. Celery and carrots sautéed with the onions and garlic is termed \"soffritto\" in Italian change of state. it\'s a awfully ancient base for several Italian dishes. change of state them slowly over low heat releases their flavour and adds an additional dimension to the present dish. however it\'s optional! i do not usually have celery lying around and conjointly, typically i do not have the energy for the additional chopping!

3. you\'ll use a pair of cups of stock and one cup of water, rather than three cups of water and a pair of beef broth cubes.

4. you wish a very massive fry pan to form this victimization a complete 1lb/500g packet of alimentary paste as a result of you wish the area to toss the sauce and alimentary paste along with the alimentary paste water. this can be known as \"emulsifying\" and it\'s a KEY secret to awful pastas. Italian Nonna\'s can roll over in their graves if you do not do this! therefore if you do not have an outsized fry pan, do that step in 2 fry pans. i am unable to stress enough what a distinction emulsifying makes to pastas!

5. this could be created in an exceedingly slow cooking utensil - half dozen hours on low - however at the top, you may ought to take away the meat and transfer the sauce to a pot and simmer till it reduces.

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