Normally when I make a bolognese sauce I start with ground beef but since I like a good slow braise I thought that it would be nice to go with short ribs, which have a lot of flavour, and slowly simmer them until they are falling apart tender. A bolognese sauce is the perfect dish to build up tons of flavour and umami so I like to start by cooking some pancetta or bacon and then using the leftover grease to sear/caramelize the beef before adding the veggies and then delazing the pan with wine to get all of that browned caramelized flavour off the bottom. I continue to build up the flavour with dried porcini mushrooms, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar and italian seasoning before finishing things off by adding parmesan, cream and a touch of fish sauce. Because this dish is a long slow braise dish it’s perfect for the slow cooker so you can throw everything into the slow cooker in the morning and have a super tasty meal waiting for you when you get home at night! Once the meat has finished cooking it will be falling apart tender and you can serve it tossed with your favourite pasta and you will be in pure flavour heaven!
For a lighter option use zucchini noodles instead of pasta!
Tagliatelle Short-rib Bolognese
A slowly braised beef short rib bolognese that is absolutely packed with flavour!
ingredients
- 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
- 1/4 pound pancetta (or bacon), diced
- 1 pound boneless short ribs or other stewing/braising cut of beef, cut into 1-2 inch cubes
- 1 cup onion, diced
- 1 cup carrot, diced
- 1 cup celery, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- red pepper flakes to taste
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup dry white wine (or beef broth)
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 (28 ounce) can tomatoes, crushed
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon italian seasoning
- 1/2 cup parmesan, grated
- 1/4 cup heavy cream or milk
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- salt and pepper to taste
- 8 ounces pasta (gluten free for gluten free)
- grated parmesan to taste
- fresh parsley and/or basil to taste
directions
- Cover the porcini mushrooms in 1 cup boiled water and let soak until tender, about 20 minutes, before chopping the mushrooms and reserving the mushroom water.
- Meanwhile, cook the pancetta in a large sauce pan and set aside reserving the grease.
- Cook the beef in the same pan over medium-high heat until browned on all sides before setting aside.
- Add the onions, carrots and celery to the pan and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.
- Add the garlic, red pepper flakes, mushrooms and tomato paste and saute until fragrant, about a minute.
- Add the wine, deglaze the pan, add the reserved mushroom water, pancetta, beef, broth, tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and italian seasoning, bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer, covered, until the beef is falling apart tender, about 2-3 hours. (You can also transfer the pot to the oven preheated to 275F/140C and cook until falling apart tender, about 3-4 hours.)
- Mix in the parmesan and cream and season with fish sauce, salt and pepper to taste.
- Meanwhile, cook the pasta as directed, toss with the sauce and enjoy topped with parmesan and parsley.
Note: If there is not enough grease left in the pan after cooking the pancetta, add some oil to the pan before adding the beef or the veggies.
Option: If you have some parmesan rinds, throw them in for the braise and remove them before serving.
Note: Replace the italian seasoning with 1 teaspoon of each dried oregano, basil and thyme.
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All That I'm Eating says
This looks amazing and those photos are so appetising. I love how you've made it properly with braising pork or beef.
Maria says
I am always up for pasta with lots of sauce!
Sunisima says
Yum, sounds so great. But what is the oven supposed to be set to when using the different options of cooking?
kevin says
Sunisima: Yes, you can also do this in the oven at 275F for 3-4 hours.
janet in nc says
This sounds like a fabulous crockpot Sunday dinner – weekday leftovers. Your blog is terrific! I tried the pineapple ham fried cauliflower rice and we just loved it! Thanks for the fresh ideas, you are my go-to dinner blogger!
Heather Christo says
I just love that you used short ribs. Next rainy day- this is happening!
Julie @ Table for Two says
You're killing me here, Kevin!! This looks amazing!!
Lynda O"Connor says
Kevin, you are the most creative cook I've ever read. Every day I look forward to reading your unique dishes. Why aren't you on TV?
Anonymous says
Another lovely recipe. Thanks Kevin
Phyllis says
Kevin, what does the fish sauce do? I haven't ever used it before. Is it something that the dish can do without?
Ellen Clark says
I had the same question regarding the use of fish sauce.
Anne Nelson says
What a great way to use those short ribs. This looks DELICIOUS!!!
kevin says
Ellen Clark & Anne Nelson: You can omit the fish sauce or replace it with soy sauce. Really it just adds a hint of umami and most people would not even be able to say 'I taste fish sauce in this'.
marla {Family Fresh Cooking} says
Must try this pasta now! Love the zucchini noodles too!!
Joshua Hampton says
This pasta looks amazing. The zoodles version in particular looks gorgeous. My mouth is watering right now.
Jasline @ Foodie Baker says
Wow short ribs bolognese, this looks amazing and so delicious!
katrynka says
Do many places carry boneless short ribs? Don't know that I've seen them, but also never really looked for them! And thanks for the amounts for Italian seasoning! I only have the separate spices, and this way I don't have to look it up!! This looks super yummy!!
kevin says
katrynka: Just use 2-3 pounds of shortribs with the bones. I always like to make my own spice blends from the components!
Anonymous says
Hi Kevin, I can't wait to try this dish out this weekend! Question, I have a big family, so I was planning to double to servings. Do I still cook it for 3 hours? Or should i cook it a bit longer?
Thuyty82 says
Hi Kevin,
Does the cooking time change if I am doubling the recipe for a larger group?
kevin says
Thuyty82: The cooking time for the simmering/braising will remain the same but you may have to brown the meat in batches and the onions, carrots and celery may take a little longer to cook. Enjoy!
Thuyty82 says
Thank you Kevin! I will be making it this weekend. I will let you know how it turned out 🙂
Anonymous says
Chuck roast was on sale, so I used that instead. I used the slow cooker method–since the slow cooker tends to liquify everything, I halved the liquid ingredients–half cup of broth, half cup of wine, 14 oz crushed tomatoes. However, everything still turned into soup, so I would recommend cutting the liquids down to a quarter instead–quarter cup broth, quarter cup wine, 7 oz? crushed tomatoes. Despite everything dissolving, it tasted great.
Anonymous says
Made this recipe for Saturday night dinner and it was fantastic, a definite hit. Loved it.
rancholyn says
Looks amazing…can't wait to try..:) Thanks for the reminder zoodles–
Anonymous says
I also reduced the liquid and made this in my pressure cooker, since with pressure cookers the liquid doesn't go anywhere. I used 28oz can whole tomatoes, 1 cup red wine, little over 1/2 cup beef broth, and baby bellas-so no mushroom liquid. Seared/cooked everything in cast iron skillet and transfered to pressure cooker & cooked it for 90 min. I made a roux with butter, flour, the cream, the fish sauce & and some of the cooking sauce, put it in with everything else and simmered to thicken it up. Parm, pasta & pasta finished it off. It. Was. Sooooo. GOOD. Awesome recipe, thank you Kevin!!
Abbey Gleichenhaus says
looks so delicious, i can't wait to make…weekend coming
Laura says
I made this last night. It was delicious!! I was going to use soy sauce instead of the fish sauce, but totally forgot about adding it even with the bottle sitting next to the stove. This will become a staple. I might increase the amount of beef next time.
Anonymous says
Can't wait to make this.. I haven't in the crockport before, but we have 8 for dinner tomorrow (Mostly grown men, so doubling this recipe and freezing any leftover) – I have never made this with short ribs but I am intrigued to. Question.. I usually add pork sausage to my bolognese. To double the meat, think it would be good to use the 2nd pound of meat as the pork sausage? Or ground beef? Ground chicken? What do you suggest?
Jillian – the Eager Eater
Linda Dodge says
This looks really good but in what universe does 8 ounces of pasta serve 6 people?
PapaKen says
How would you cook this in the pressure cooker?
kevin says
PapaKen: I do not do a lot of pressure cooker recipes but I believe that this recipe would be perfect for pressure cooking!
Kristen says
I made this this weekend and let me say it was AWESOME! I used bone-in short ribs since I couldn’t find boneless. I loved everything about this dish, but i will say that using the bone-in definitely increased the cooking time. It took 5-6 hours instead of 2-3 but it was worth the wait! Served it with pappardelle….so good!
Lallie says
Dearest Kevin
Love love all your recipes
Thank you for sharing good tasty easy ideas to make every meal delicious
Diane says
This was outstanding! Well worth the time. I couldn’t find boneless short ribs so I bought the bone in short ribs and just cut the meat off of them. This recipe was spot on. Served on top of some egg pappardelle noodles and what a feast it was. Thanks for sharing.
JBH says
So damned tired of people saying the recipe looks great. Don’t comment unless you have actually made it!
Nunu says
I haven’t tried this recipe yet but I love a lot of Kevin’s other recipes. However, you really nailed it on one of my biggest pet peeves. I think this habit started when Google gave Page Rank to food bloggers who went around adding such vapid comments on other food bloggers’ posts with links to their own site.
Alicia says
The ingredients call for white wine but the directions say red. Does anyone know which is correct – red or white?
kevin says
That should have been a dry white wine in both locations. You can also use a dry red wine or broth. Enjoy!
Vicky Rodriguez says
I love all your recipes, have tried at least 50% of them. I do not like fish sauce Kevin, do I need it for this recipe or is there a substitute? Thank You. Vicky
kevin says
Hi Vicky! I’m glad that you have been enjoying my recipes! You can omit the fish sauce (and season with a bit more salt) or replace it with soy sauce. Enjoy!