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Home Dish Slow Cooked Beef Ragu

Slow Cooked Beef Ragu

Name: How to cook Slow Cooked Beef Ragu - cookcic.com
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 3-4 people
Cuisine: Us

Introduce

Chef :

Natalie Marten (Windsor__Foodie)

Slow Cooked Beef Ragu

There are quite a few versions of this dish available but this is my version that I like to make when I have some time, perhaps over a weekend, to slow cook for a couple of hours until the meat becomes so succulent and tender. I add red wine and cocoa powder to make the sauce extra rich. ;)

Ingredient

Food ration :

3-4 people

Cooking time :

2 hours 30 min

400 g

quality Aberdeen Angus diced beef,

large carrot, diced into small cubes,

3 sticks

celery chopped finely,

large red onion, diced finely,

210 g

tinned cherry tomatoes, (1/2 tin),

heaped tbsp tomato pureé paste,

quality beef stock cube,

large cloves garlic, minced,

couple of sprigs of fresh Thyme, or 2 tsp dried,

1 tsp

dried basil,

1 tsp

dried oregano,

1 tsp

organic honey, or 1tsp sugar,

1 tsp

(heaped), quality cocoa powder,

1 tbsp

balsamic vinegar,

good glug of red wine,

2 tbsp

olive oil for frying,

Cooking instructions

* Step 1

Add a medium to large saucepan (one with a lid available), to a hob on a high heat. Add the cooking oil. Once warm add the onions and fry for 1-2 minutes until they begin to soften. Add the celery and carrots. Season well with salt and pepper. Fry whilst occasionally stirring for a few minutes.

* Step 2

Next add in the diced beef. Stir and combine with the veg. Fry until browned off on all sides. Turn the heat down to medium. Add the minced garlic, and tomato paste plus the red wine. Stir together with the beef until it's nicely coated. simmer for a minute or so to burn off the alcohol. Crumble in the beef stock cube and add the tinned cherry tomatoes.

* Step 3

Allow to simmer for around 3-4 minutes. Next add the cocoa powder and balsamic vinegar. Stir it through until dissolved. The sauce should now look beautifully rich and brown in colour.

* Step 4

Take a few sprigs of fresh Thyme and place on top of the mixture. Add the oregano and basil and stir through. Place on the lid of the saucepan and turn the hob heat down to low and bring to a gentle simmer.

* Step 5

Allow to simmer on a very low heat for around 2 hours, returning to occasionally remove the lid and give it a stir. If the sauce reduces too much, simply add a few tbsp of water in to keep it from drying out, you'll probably need to do this every 30 mins or so. Add in the honey/sugar towards the end of cooking to sweeten it up a little if needed, do this to your own taste.

* Step 6

You'll know the Ragu is ready once the meat is so tender and succulent that it just falls apart when you touch it with a fork. Remove the sprigs of Thyme and discard. Keep warm over a very low heat while you prepare the pasta.

* Step 7

I find Ragu is nice served with some thick papperdelle or tagliatelle, but you can opt for other types of pasta too if you'd like. Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil and prepare the pasta according to packet instructions or if making your own fresh pasta, begin to boil it now.