Dinner · Italian

Slow-cooked beef ragù

Name: Slow-cooked beef ragù
Total time: 225 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 800g Diced braising steak; 2 tbsp Olive oil; 1 Brown onion; 2 Carrots; 2 sticks Celery; 3 cloves Garlic, crushed; 2 tbsp Tomato purée; 1 tsp Dried thyme; 2 tins Chopped tomatoes; 1 cube Beef stock cube, in 300ml water; 400g Egg tagliatelle; 40g Italian-style hard cheese, grated

Braising steak cooked low and slow until it shreds into the sauce at a nudge of a fork.

Start to finish: 3 hr 45 min
Hands-on: 41 min
In the fridge: 3 days
Freezes: Yes

Contains gluten, dairy, eggs, celery

Ingredients

4 portions

800gDiced braising steak
2 tbspOlive oil
1Brown onion
2Carrots
2 sticksCelery
3 clovesGarlic, crushed
2 tbspTomato purée
1 tspDried thyme
2 tinsChopped tomatoes
1 cubeBeef stock cube, in 300ml water
400gEgg tagliatelle
40gItalian-style hard cheese, grated

Plus salt, pepper and water.

Method

1
Heat the oven to 160C (140C fan). Pat the beef dry and season it. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a flameproof casserole over a high heat and brown the beef in two batches, 4 to 5 minutes each, until deep brown on all sides. Lift onto a plate.
2
Meanwhile, finely chop the onion, carrots and celery, and crush the garlic.
3
Turn the heat to medium, add the rest of the oil and the chopped veg and cook for 10 minutes, scraping up the browned bits, until soft. Stir in the garlic, purée and thyme for a minute.
11 min, mostly hands-off
4
Return the beef and its juices to the pan with the tomatoes and the stock cube crumbled into 300ml water. Bring to a simmer, put the lid on and cook in the oven for 3 hours, stirring once or twice, until the beef falls apart when you press it with a spoon.
3 hr 3 min, mostly hands-off
5
Shred the beef into the sauce with two forks. If it is thin, simmer on the hob without the lid for 10 minutes, until it coats the back of a spoon. Season well.
6
Meanwhile, cook the tagliatelle in a big pan of boiling salted water for a minute less than the packet says. Scoop out a mugful of the water, then drain.
12 min, mostly hands-off
7
Toss the tagliatelle with a few ladles of ragù and a splash of the water until glossy, and serve with the cheese. Cool the rest of the ragù and portion it into tubs for the fridge or freezer.

On the day

Reheat the ragù gently until piping hot all the way through, adding a splash of water if it has thickened. Cook the tagliatelle fresh and grate over the cheese at the table.

Cook’s tip

Brown the beef in batches with space around each piece. A crowded pan steams the meat grey, and that deep brown crust is where the sauce gets its richness.