Chianti-Braised Short Rib Ragù
Sorry sauce ‘n meatballs, but this might be the ultimate Sunday dinner, after all.
These short ribs, braised for hours in rich sauce, fall right off the bone and stick to yours — not to mention, the smell is pure magic.
I’d been wanting to try a short rib recipe, and one below-freezing Sunday was the perfect excuse to stay inside and braise ragù all day. I’d done a lot of research to get my vision right, and found that Bobby Flay’s take (unsurprisingly) was very close to what I was going for.
My twists? Using a combination of leeks and whole cipollini onions for deeper, sweeter onion flavor; extra tomato paste for richness; lower-and-slower on the braise; and more wine. A lot more — an entire bottle, in fact.
I love paccheri for this ragù. It’s like rigatoni’s wider, flatter cousin, definitely not uglier cousin.
Let’s cook!
You’ll need:
~3.5 lbs bone-in beef short ribs
1 large leek
3-4 medium carrots
2 ribs celery
5 cloves of garlic
1 lb (16 oz) whole cipollini onions
1 small can of tomato paste (5-6 oz)
1 bottle of good Chianti (one you’d drink!)
2 c beef stock;
2 sprigs rosemary
1 small bunch of fresh thyme sprigs
1-2 bay leaves
1 lb of pasta (my favorite for this is paccheri)
Pecorino Romano, for serving
Fresh parsley, for garnish
EVOO, salt & pepper
Makes 4-6 servings, plus some leftover.
Steps:
Season short ribs generously with salt and pepper, on all sides. Preheat oven to 300, and lower the rack so that a Dutch oven will sit in the center of the oven.
Trim off the top half of the leek (most of the darker green portion), as well as the rough bottom. Thinly slice. Peel and mince garlic. Peel carrots and dice finely, with celery. (Tip: Cut into chunks, and toss in a food processor – pulse until finely diced, ~30 sec)
To peel the cipollini onions, blanch them – fix an ice bath; boil the whole onions for 3 min; immediately transfer to the ice bath, let cool for 3 min. Trim brown tips, and squeeze the outer layer off of the onions by pinching from the tips. Cut larger cipolinnis in half.
Coat the bottom of a large Dutch oven (D.O.) with EVOO, heat over medium. When the oil is hot, sear the short ribs in batches. Turn every few mins, until browned on all sides. Set aside in a bowl.
To the fat in the D.O, add the leeks, diced carrots and celery, and garlic. Sauté until softened and fragrant, ~10 min.
Stir in the tomato paste, and keep stirring well until deepened/caramelized, ~3 min. Pour in the entire bottle of Chianti, and simmer until reduced by half, ~10 min. Tie together a garni of the rosemary, thyme, and bay leaves –add to the D.O. to steep.
Once reduced, add the short ribs (and their juices!) back to the D.O., along with the peeled cipollinis. Pour in enough beef broth to cover the ribs, about 2 cups. Bring back to a simmer, then turn off heat and cover.
Place into the oven, and let braise for 4 hours. Enjoy the smell! At hours 2 and 3, I like to carefully skim fat from the top.
After the 4h, return the D.O. to the stovetop. Carefully remove the ribs, any of their bones, and the garni from the sauce. Bring sauce back to a gentle simmer, med-low.
Remove all bones and extra fatty pieces from the ribs, and add meat to a bowl. Shred well with two dinner forks, and add shredded meat back to the simmering ragù.
Meanwhile— boil and salt water for the pasta, and cook to package instructions. As the pasta cooks, skim once more for oil, if needed; chop parsley for garnish.
Drain pasta, and toss with good EVOO. Plate in bowls, ladling the ragù all over the pasta. Garnish with parsley and Pecorino.