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Braised Short Rib Ragu

[heart_this] · Apr 12, 2011 · 25 Comments

Braised Short Rib Ragu

Short ribs braised in a tasty flavour packed sauce until fall apart in your mouth tender and good.

Although Spring is here, the weather has still been on the cooler side and I figured that I could probably get at least one more good braise in before it gets too warm to have the oven on for hours at a time. I am a huge fan of a good long braise that slowly tenderizes the meat until it literally falls off the bone and melts in your mouth and there was one more recipe that I wanted to try while it was still cool. I came across this recipe for a short rib ragu on The Parsley Thief a while ago and it immediately caught my attention. All you need to do is look at the list of ingredients to see that it is just packed with umami and flavour that could only get better the longer that it simmers.
Short ribs are a fattier cut of beef which means that we start this recipe off right away with more flavour and then we then continue to build build it by browning the short ribs on all sides. The sauce starts out with a pretty standard array of vegetables and garlic but then it jumps right into the deep end with a flavour powerhouse, anchovy paste. To make sure that we get all of the goodness from those brown bits on the bottom of the pan we deglaze it with some red wine and then we start building the complexities of the sauce with tomato paste, dried porcini mushrooms, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and an array of herbs and spices.
One of the things that I like about braising is that generally once you get it into the oven it is pretty hands off until it is done so you get a really great meal with minimal effort. Since this recipe uses short ribs there is one final step and that is to pull the bones out of the pot and shred the beef. I wanted this dish to focus on the meat so I decided to puree the sauce while I waited for the meat to cool enough to shred, though you could easily skip this step. As promised, this ragu was just packed with flavour and it was easily one of the tastiest sauces that I have had in a while. You could serve this ragu on pretty much anything that you want and since it had been a while since I last used a creamy polenta, I decided to go with that.

Braised Short Rib Ragu

Braised Short Rib Ragu

Braised Short Rib Ragu

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 3 hours 20 minutes Total Time: 3 hours 30 minutes Servings: 4

Short ribs braised in a tasty flavour packed sauce until fall apart in your mouth tender and good.

ingredients
  • 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 3 pounds short ribs, 2-3 inches long
  • 2 cups onion, diced
  • 1 cup celery, diced
  • 1 cup carrots, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon anchovy paste
  • 1 cup red wine
  • 1 cup tomato puree
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 tablespoon thyme, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon rosemary, chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds, ground
  • 1 piece parmigano reggiano (parmesan) rind, optional
  • 2 bay leaves
  • salt and pepper
  • 3 cups beef stock
  • 1 handful parsley, chopped
directions
  1. Soak the mushrooms in 1/2 cup boiling water.
  2. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan over medium-high heat.
  3. Sear the short ribs until brown on all sides and set aside.
  4. Drain all but 2 tablespoons of the oil and fat from the pan and reduce to medium heat.
  5. Add the onions, celery and carrots and saute until tender, about 10-15 minutes.
  6. Add the garlic and anchovy paste and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
  7. Add the red wine and deglaze the pan.
  8. Add the ribs, the mushrooms and their liquid, tomato puree, tomato paste, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, oregano, thyme, rosemary, fennel, parmigano reggiano rind, bay leaves, salt and pepper and enough beef stock to cover the ribs.
  9. Bring to a boil, cover, and transfer to a preheated 350F/180C oven and cook until the meet is falling off the bones, about 3 hours.
  10. Remove the beef from the pan, set aside to cool
  11. Puree the sauce.
  12. Pull the beef from the bones, shred it, return it to the sauce and simmer to thicken if desired.
Use in:
Gnocchi Poutine with Short Rib Ragu

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Beef, Food, Gluten-free, Italian, Low-carb, Main Course, Recipe

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jane says

    April 13, 2011 at 2:21 am

    Oh, man … does this look good! At first, the length of the ingredient list is intimidating … but then, I realized that I already have most of it, anyway. Gotta try this!

    Reply
  2. Our Youth says

    April 13, 2011 at 3:04 am

    Looks great.

    Reply
  3. Anonymous says

    April 13, 2011 at 4:30 am

    This dish looks so hearty and flavorful. I just came across your site and am enjoying the delectable recipes and accompanying photography. Look forward to tasting your journey in the kitchen.

    Reply
  4. Rosa's Yummy Yums says

    April 13, 2011 at 5:48 am

    That dish loons verx scrumptious!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    Reply
  5. Cate says

    April 13, 2011 at 8:34 am

    This looks great – I am into beef ribs – I just might have to try this!!!

    Reply
  6. Lizzie says

    April 13, 2011 at 9:01 am

    Wowser. Those are some mega flavours; I bet it tasted amazing.

    Reply
  7. Joanne says

    April 13, 2011 at 10:32 am

    Mmm I saw this over at The Parsley Thief and it definitely caught my eye as well! That pull-apart tender meat…amazing!

    Reply
  8. Shayne says

    April 13, 2011 at 12:21 pm

    I love braised short ribs on polenta. it looks great here too

    Reply
  9. Chocolate Shavings says

    April 13, 2011 at 1:28 pm

    Love the look of that ragu Kevin – it looks like you've been cooking a lot of delicious dishes!

    Reply
  10. luvglass says

    April 13, 2011 at 3:17 pm

    Looks very interesting, will make it Saturday for company. Directions mention pancetta, but it's not on the ingredients list, how much?
    Fred

    Reply
  11. joelle F. says

    April 13, 2011 at 7:12 pm

    the instructions include pancetta but it isn't on the ingredients list. How pancetta should be used? thank you.

    Reply
  12. The Food Hound says

    April 13, 2011 at 7:17 pm

    I just posted about short ribs, too! Aren't they awesome! Love the low and slow method. I bet the ragu was so good with the polenta!

    Reply
  13. Anonymous says

    April 13, 2011 at 7:25 pm

    Looks scrumptious! And the best part is, I know that you're going to make something totally awesome with the leftovers. You are, aren't you?

    Reply
  14. Rocky Mountain Woman says

    April 13, 2011 at 8:50 pm

    I love braised short ribs and the polenta is inspired!

    Reply
  15. Helene says

    April 14, 2011 at 1:02 am

    I love braised meat. Such a flavorful dish Kevin.

    Reply
  16. Cassie says

    April 14, 2011 at 3:20 am

    Saucy shredded beef on top of polenta, that sounds delicious!

    Reply
  17. Kevin says

    April 14, 2011 at 9:46 am

    luvglass: I was thinking of adding 4 ounces of diced pancetta but decided that there was enough flavour already. You certainly could not go wrong adding it though!

    Reply
  18. Chiara "Kika" Assi says

    April 14, 2011 at 11:09 am

    I've never cooked short ribs… this looks like a delicious way to get acquainted with it!

    Reply
  19. LimeCake says

    April 14, 2011 at 11:58 am

    Beef short ribs are one of my favourite cuts! And so affordable too. They're totally underrated! This looks so hearty and delicious!

    Reply
  20. kate says

    April 18, 2011 at 1:56 pm

    Looks lovely Kevin!

    Reply
  21. Debra says

    May 15, 2011 at 3:41 pm

    Looks wonderful, but I do have one question: when do you add the porcinis? The recipe says to soak them, but then they don't get mentioned again. Thanks!

    Reply
  22. Kevin says

    May 18, 2011 at 9:58 am

    Debra: The porcini mushrooms are added in step 8 along with the water that they were soaked in to get even more of their flavour.

    Reply
  23. Anonymous says

    December 21, 2013 at 1:09 am

    "Prep Time: 10 minutes"?

    It took me 10 minutes to get the thyme stripped and chopped, haha.

    It's simmering (on the stove) as I type Smells fabulous. Can't wait to have this in a bowl in front of me.

    Thanks for sharing!

    Reply
  24. Candice says

    November 4, 2016 at 4:18 pm

    Just prepared this, the house smells amazing!
    Thanks!

    Reply
  25. Marsha Paulsen Peters says

    November 6, 2017 at 1:47 pm

    Cool … How is the polenta prepared ?

    Reply

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