Let’s talk ragù. Ragù is the term used in Italy for a pasta sauce that is made using meat. The meat is traditionally slow cooked over time to fall-apart tender stage after which it distributes beautifully through the sauce and adds a depth of flavour to a traditional tomato based pasta sauce that can’t be beat.
My top tip for a ragù is to use a combination or stewing meat and a meat with bones. You want the stewing meat so you have enough meat in the ragu when it pulls apart, but the bones are integral to adding a depth of flavour to a ragù.
Slow cooking meat into a pasta sauce over several hours sounds labour intensive, but it is very much a set and forget recipe so the lengthy cooking time really is passive and just means more time sitting around reading a book and drinking wine on the weekends. Then, you just boil up some fresh pappardelle, stir it through, add Parmigiano-Regganio cheese and its a killer meal.
If you want to cut the cooking time of the ragù down, I cannot recommend enough a new multicooker that I recently had the pleasure of creating recipes for – the Remoska Tria. This cooker is quite amazing. At it’s core, it is a non stick pot, but it’s not just a pot! It comes with three separate cooking lids so you can choose exactly how you want to cook with it.
With the glass cooking lid, the Tria behaves just like a regular cooking pot and can be used on the stovetop or in the oven. The soft pressure lid is perfect for long cooks on the stovetop and cuts the time it takes to slow cook meats, casseroles and sauces in half without any of the stress of a traditional pressure cooker. The roasting lid which has truly revolutionised the way that I cook in the kitchen. The roasting lid plugs into a socket and turns the Remoska, when placed onto its trivet, into a small oven right on my benchtop. I am shocked by how succulent and tender chicken, fish and meat becomes when cooked under the roasting lid while still achieving that wonderful golden roasted hue. This means you can use it anywhere you can find a plug!
If you would like to find out more about the Remoska Tria, head to their website and use code “ChewTown” for a 25% discount and free shipping in Australia.
Don’t worry you don’t need a Remoska, you can cook this recipe in a cast iron pot in the oven and it will just take little longer to cook to pull apart stage.
Beef Ragu Pappardelle
Ingredients
- 500g beef chuck steak, cut in 4cm pieces
- 500g beef osso buco
- 750g tomato passata
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1 carrot, finely chopped
- 1 celery stalk, finely chopped
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- handful fresh basil, roughly torn
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 400g dried pappardelle pasta
Directions
If using a cast iron pot and not a Remoska Tria, Preheat oven to 160°C
Place the Remoska (or your cast iron pan) on your cooktop and heat over medium heat. Heat the olive oil and add the garlic, onion, carrot and celery. Sauté until the onions are transparent. Add the chuck steak and osso bucco and 1/2 tsp nutmeg and cook, turning until the meat has browned. Once browned, add the tomato passata, 1 cup water, remaining nutmeg and basil to the pot and season with salt.
If using a Remoska tria, bring the mixture to a simmer, then place the soft-pressure lid on and simmer for 1 1/2 - 2 hours turning the meat occasionally until the meat is pull apart tender.
If cooking in a cast iron pot, bring to a simmer then add the lid and bake for 3 hours, turning the meat ocassionally. After 3 hours use forks or tongs to gently pull apart the meat in the sauce and set aside.
Bring a pot of salted boiling water to the boil and add the pappardelle. Cook it to the packet instructions and then drain and stir through the beef ragu. Add the cheese and serve immediately.
Chew Town was gifted a Remoska Tria for the purposes of creating recipes for the brand as paid work through Amanda’s job as a Food Photographer.
