Description

Beef and red wine ragu with a glass of wine, on the couch in front of Netflix is my happy place after a long day at the store. It’s meaty, full of red wine & tomatoes, and is one of the most soul warming dishes around.

Ingredients

Scale

2 tbsp olive oil (extra virgin)
2 onions, sliced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 kg chuck steak (cut in rough 3cm dice)
2 400g canned tomatoes
250 ml beef stock
250 ml red wine
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 bay leaves
3 sprigs thyme
Capunti pasta (or your favorite type of pasta), fresh basil leaves and grated parmesan to serve

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 150°c.
In a large Dutch oven over medium-low heat & combine the olive oil and onion. Cook on the stovetop till softened (about 10 minutes). Add garlic. Cook for 1 minute and stir through. Remove the onion from the pan and set aside.
Add the chuck steak to the pot. Seal all sides of the meat until lightly brown (usually about 1-2 minutes on each side). If you’re using a smaller pan this will need to be done in stages. Don’t overcrowd the pan as the meat will just stew. We’re sealing in all the goodness and rendering any fat on the outside!
Add the sauteed onion & garlic back into the pot along with the beef stock, red wine, canned tomato, tomato paste, bay, and thyme. Give a good stir to release any browned bits stuck on the bottom of the pan from cooking the beef. Bring the tomato sauce to simmer point over medium heat on top of the stove stirring occasionally, then pop in the oven (lid on) for 3 hours.
Remove from oven. Taste test and make sure that beef is falling apart, so you get shreds of it through the pasta.
Serve with cooked al-dente capunti pasta (or your favorite pasta), a shaving of good parmesan, finely chopped basil leaves, and a glass of wine!

Notes

I like to serve my ragu on a bed of Capunti pasta and top with a good parmesan and freshly picked basil. I allow 100g of pasta per person.

Always reserve a little pasta water to add to the ragu sauce prior to adding the pasta.

Be sure to scrape down all those brown bits (aka fond) from both the side and bottom of the pot after browning the meat. Those are the good bits with tons of flavor. We want to keep it all in the pan to make the sauce rich and full of flavor.

Always leave the seasoning with salt and pepper til the end to get an accurate result. Otherwise, you can be left with over (or under) seasoned food – not ideal!

Nutrition

Serving Size:
Calories: 802
Sugar: 17 g
Sodium: 213.4 mg
Fat: 17.7 g
Carbohydrates: 99.6 g
Protein: 58.6 g
Cholesterol: 134.9 mg