Beef short rib ragu with spaghetti and pangrattato

Beef Short Rib Ragu with Spaghetti

Yesterday, I talked about how you can save money on your meals and mentioned some of my favourite recipes. Today, I am going to share a couple that go really well together and will not only help you to make the most of cheaper cuts of meat but will also tell you how to use up your leftovers. A beef short rib ragu is surely one of the ultimate comfort foods.

Beef Short Ribs are my absolute favourite cut of beef. You might need to see a decent butcher to get these, but the trip is well worth it. Meltingly soft, intense beef flavour cooked low and slow and served with anything from a decadent mash potato to a sophisticated pasta. Have a look below at the recipe for short rib of beef ragu served with pasta, it’s proper comfort food.

This is my absolute go-to favourite Italian dish. So simple but rich and packed with flavour. Add some smoked pancetta when sealing the beef for a salty bacon background flavour. If you are batch cooking, stop at step 9 and refrigerate/freeze once cold.

I’ve included printable recipe cards so you can add these recipes to your collection.

Ingredients

Beef short rib ragu served with spaghetti and pangrattato
Short rib of beef ragu served with spaghetti and pangrattato.

1 KG Beef Short Ribs on the bone

50 ml Sunflower oil

1tbsp butter

1Tbsp Tomato puree

1 tin Chopped Tomatoes

1 Onion cut into 1 cm slices

2 cloves of garlic crushed.

300ml Red Wine

1-pint Beef stock

Pack of dried Spaghetti

Method

  1. Cut the sinew down the back of each bone to allow the meat to release easily once cooked.
  2. Seal the beef short ribs in a pan with the oil. Remove and put to one side
  3. Add the onion, garlic and butter to the pan and sweat until tender.
  4. Add the tomato puree and cook out for 5-7 minutes.
  5. Deglaze the pan with the wine using a wooden spoon to loosen the dark bits from the bottom of the pan. Reduce the wine by half.
  6. Add the tomatoes and stock and bring to the boil
  7. Once boiling, turn to a simmer and add the meat (plus juices) back to the pan. Stir thoroughly and make sure the beef is submerged in the liquid.
  8. Put in oven at 150 degrees for a minimum of 3 hours. The longer the better.
  9. Remove from oven and break up meat using a fork or tongs. Remove bones and discard.
  10. Cook pasta according to packet instructions
  11. Drain pasta and return to pan.
  12. Add sauce to pasta as required. Mix and serve immediately with parmesan cheese or Pangrattato (see below).
Beef short rib ragu served with spaghetti and pangrattato

Beef Short Rib Ragu

A comforting and money saving classic: beef short rib ragu served with spaghetti and pangrattato.
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours
Course Main Course
Cuisine Italian

Ingredients
  

  • 1 kg Beef short ribs on the bone
  • 50 ml Sunflower oil
  • 1 tbsp Butter
  • 1 tbsp Tomato puree
  • 1 tin Chopped tomatoes
  • 1 whole Onion cut into 1cm slices
  • 2 cloves Garlic (crushed)
  • 300 ml Red wine
  • 1 pint Beef stock
  • 1 pack Dried spaghetti

Instructions
 

  • Cut the sinew down the back of each bone to allow the meat to release easily once cooked. 
  • Seal the beef short ribs in a pan with the oil. Remove and put to one side.
  • Add the onion, garlic and butter to the pan and sweat until tender.
  • Add the tomato puree and cook out for 5-7minutes.
  • Deglaze the pan with the wine using a wooden spoon to loosen the dark bits from the bottom of the pan. Reduce the wine by half.
  • Add the tomatoes and stock and bring to a boil.
  • Once boiling turn to a simmer and add the meat (plus juices) back to the pan. Stir thoroughly and make sure the beef is submerged in the liquid.
  • Put in oven at 150 degrees for a minimum of 3hours. The longer the better.
  • Remove from oven and break up meat using a fork or tongs. Remove bones and discard.
  • Cook pasta according to packet instructions.
  • Drain pasta and return to pan.
  • Add sauce to pasta as required. Mix and serve immediately with parmesan cheese or Pangrattato.
Keyword Comfort Food, Comforting Classics

Pangrattato

As an alternative to garlic bread and as a fantastic way to use up leftovers, whip up a batch of Pangrattato to sprinkle over the top of your ragu.

A crispy and fragrant topping for pasta dishes and a zingy, fresh alternative to parmesan. So simple but worth it. You will notice that there are no measurements for this one. Do it by taste and add as much or as little as you want.

Ingredients

Leftover bread blitzed into breadcrumbs

Fresh lemon rind

Garlic

Butter

Method

  1. Melt the butter in a frying pan and add the breadcrumbs.
  2. Fry until golden and crispy
  3. Use a micro plane grater to grate garlic and lemon rind into breadcrumbs.
  4. Mix thoroughly
  5. Serve over pasta (great with the short rib ragu above).

Pangrattato

A crispy and fragrant topping for pasta dishes and a zingy, fresh alternative to parmesan. So simple but worth it. You will notice that there are no measurements for this one. Do it by taste and add as much or as little as you want.
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Course Side Dish
Cuisine Italian

Ingredients
  

  • Leftover bread blitzed into breadcrumbs.
  • Fresh lemon rind
  • Garlic
  • Butter

Instructions
 

  • Melt the butter in a frying pan and add the breadcrumbs.
  • Fry until golden and crispy.
  • Use a micro-plane grater to grate garlic and lemon rind into breadcrumbs.
  • Mix thoroughly.
  • Serve over pasta.
Keyword Comfort Food, Comforting Classics

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