For a meaty pasta sauce, Beef Ragu is a real winner for the whole family.
It does need to be slow cooked for tender meat and a sauce-like texture required to coat the pasta, but is easy to leave alone to cook slowly once you’ve assembled things at the start. Additional bonus is you are likely to have left over Ragu which you can then use for another meal such as topping baked potatoes, filling wraps or Quesadillas.
Ingredients
Volume for 8 people if serving with pasta (or a family of 4 with leftovers to create a 2nd meal)
- 1.5 kg chuck steak or slow cooking beef chunks
- 2 tablespoons light olive oil
- 2 carrots, finely diced
- 2 sticks celery, finely diced
- 2 onions, finely diced
- 4 cloves of garlic, minced
- 400ml red wine (you will be cooking the alcohol out of this)
- 400ml beef stock
- 500g passata
- 4 tablespoons tomato puree
- 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 sticks fresh rosemary
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried Thyme
- Salt & pepper to taste
- Pappardelle servings for the volume of people you’re feeding (bow tie pasta works well too – ideally pasta with a flattish surface so the meat can attach itself)
Method
In a heavy based large casserole or skillet, heat the first tablespoon of oil and brown the meat in batches. Don’t overcrowd the pan, or else you’ll just steam the meat – which you don’t want. You want to ensure colour and a crust over the meat.
Once the meat is browned, set it aside, and in the same pan heat the second tablespoon of oil and add the onions, carrots and celery. Cook slowly over a lowish heat (so it doesn’t burn) and until soft, which takes about 8 min.
Add the garlic (cook 2 min), then the tomato puree (cook 2 min) and then wine (cook another 2 min).
Finally, add the remaining ingredients (stock, passata, herbs, seasoning) and bring to the boil.
Once the dish is boiling, take off the heat and transfer to your slow cooker. On the high setting, cook for 6 hours or until meat is soft. At this point, if the dish is too liquidy, place back on the hob and reduce at a high heat for 10-15min.
If you are not using a slow cooker, you can cook this from start to finish on the hob. Just keep the pan on the hob, and simmer for 2 hours until the meat is soft and liquid has reduced sufficiently.