Sunday Supper

Recipes / Main

Slow Sunday beef ragù

Draft recipe — not yet cooked in this kitchen

Beef chuck braised for three hours in wine and tomato, then pulled apart into a sauce that holds onto wide pasta.

Jump to recipe

Start this after lunch and it will be ready for supper. Most of the time is the oven doing the work, and the house smells good the whole afternoon.

Chuck is the cut to use: it has enough fat and connective tissue to stay moist through a long braise and fall apart at the end. A splash of milk at the finish rounds out the tomato.

Slow Sunday beef ragù

Serves
6
Prep
30 min
Cook
3 hr 30 min
Total
4 hr

Ingredients

For the ragù

  • 1.1 kg (2½ lb) boneless beef chuck, cut into 5 cm (2 in) pieces
  • 2 tsp fine salt, plus more to taste
  • 30 ml (2 tbsp) olive oil
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 1 carrot, finely chopped
  • 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
  • 30 g (2 tbsp) tomato paste
  • 250 ml (1 cup) dry red wine
  • 800 g (28 oz) canned whole tomatoes, crushed by hand
  • 250 ml (1 cup) beef stock
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 120 ml (½ cup) whole milk

To serve

  • 500 g (1 lb) pappardelle or rigatoni
  • 50 g (½ cup) finely grated Parmesan

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 150°C (300°F). Season the beef all over with the salt.

  2. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the beef in two batches, 8–10 minutes a batch, turning until each side is dark brown. Move it to a plate.

  3. Turn the heat down to medium. Add the onion, carrot and celery and cook, stirring now and then, until soft, about 8 minutes. Stir in the garlic and tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes more.

  4. Pour in the wine and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Let it bubble until it has reduced by about half, 3–4 minutes.

  5. Add the tomatoes, stock, bay leaves and the beef with any juices from the plate. Bring to a simmer, cover, and move the pot to the oven.

  6. Braise for 3 hours, until the beef falls apart when you press it with a spoon.

  7. Take out the bay leaves. Pull the beef apart in the pot with two forks, stir in the milk, and simmer uncovered on the stove for 10 minutes to thicken. Taste and add salt.

  8. While the sauce thickens, cook the pasta in well-salted boiling water until just short of done. Save a mugful of the cooking water, then drain.

  9. Toss the pasta with as much ragù as you like and a splash of the pasta water, until the sauce clings. Serve with the Parmesan.

Gear for this recipe