BEEF SHIN RAGU

Beef ragu is by miles my favourite pasta sauce. It manages that fine balance of being both luxurious and at the same time being really comforting. Great on a rainy and cold day, or beautiful sitting outside in the late evening sun with a glass of red. Close your eyes and imagine the hills of Tuscany rolling away beneath your feet, cypress trees gently swaying in the breeze as onions are gently sizzling in your pan. My beef shin ragu recipe is even more delicious if you go the extra mile and make fresh pasta to go with the sauce (see recipe here: http://www.naylaskitchen.com/?p=173).

I used to make my pasta sauce with minced beef, but I was always a little disappointed in the outcome. I think it is because you just have no control over what the meat is they actually put in there. So sometimes it would be dry, sometimes watery, sometimes great and sometimes flavourless. If you have a butcher near you and they can mince you fresh meat that would be a great option. Sadly, the nearest one to me is about 30min away, so I just had to make do with what was available. Then one day I bought beef shin and the perfect ragu was born!

Beef shin is a massively under appreciated piece of meat. It makes a really delicious stew or, like here, pasta sauce. When cooked correctly it will just melt in your mouth and have a wonderful meaty, beefy flavour. The bone marrow is just the icing on the cake – injecting that extra bit of deliciousness into the finished meal. I found it to be a much better cut than traditional stewing meats such as brisket, and it is also very cheap!

Now I have to confess, my sauce isn’t totally, authentically Italian. In Italy they often use chopped chicken livers for extra flavour in the sauce. In London, not always available and I’ve also not made up my mind yet whether I actually like them or not! I also added a tin of chopped tomatoes which, as a traditionalist you wouldn’t do. But, I like the flavour and texture they add, so I say – do it!

You can either slow cook this on the hob or in the oven. Or, go the quick way and cook the whole thing in a pressure cooker. Pressure cookers are a great investment if you like to make stews but are either short of time or lazy. Yes, they may seem a bit scary initially – I used to convince myself that if you just touched the thing it could blow up in my face. But actually today pressure cookers are really safe and you just need to be wary of a a few basic rules such as having enough but too much liquid in the pan and it should be perfectly safe.

Secrets to Success:

• Brown meat before stewing. It will give a much nicer colour and appearance to your sauce and it will also improve the flavour as the outside of the meat will caramelise
• Once the meat is tender, remove the meat from the stew and reduce the sauce for both flavour and consistency. If you try and reduce/thicken the sauce with the meat in it it will overcook the meat
• Reducing the sauce will help to intensify the flavour and create a much silkier texture on the pasta
• Use good quality beef stock. If you have homemade then thats ideal, otherwise buy a good quality stock from the supermarket. The better the stock the better the taste of your sauce.

Print Recipe

BEEF SHIN RAGU

Course

Main Dish

Cuisine

Italian

Prep Time

30 min

Cook Time

2 hrs

Servings

people

Ingredients

• 800 g beef shin bone in
• 2 medium carrots
• 2 celery stalks
• 2 medium onions
• 3 tbsp light olive oil
• 1 large garlic clove crushed
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes 225g
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 sprigs thyme
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 500 ml beef stock
• 500 g dried pasta or 400g fresh pasta
• Freshly grated parmesan cheese
• Handful of basil torn

Course Main Dish Cuisine Italian Prep Time 30 min Cook Time 2 hrs Servings people Ingredients 800 g beef shin bone in 2 medium carrots 2 celery stalks 2 medium onions 3 tbsp light olive oil 1 large garlic clove crushed 1 tin chopped tomatoes 225g 1 bay leaf 2 sprigs thyme 2 tbsp tomato puree 500 ml beef stock 500 g dried pasta or 400g fresh pasta Freshly grated parmesan cheese Handful of basil torn

Instructions

1. Finely dice the onion and celery. Peel and finely dice the carrot. Heat 2tbsp olive oil in a casserole or your pressure cooker and sweat the onion, celery and carrot on a low heat. Cook gently until everything is soft and the onions are translucent. This can take about 20min or so. Keep stirring every couple of minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat 1tbsp oil in a frying pan and brown the beef shin pieces one at a time, until a dark golden brown each side. Set aside
3. Once the vegetables are soft, add the garlic and cook for 1 min. Add the beef shin, chopped tomatoes, bay leaf, thyme, tomato puree and beef stock. Make sure the beef shin is covered. If using a pressure cooker close the lid and cook for approximate 1 hour. If using a casserole, cook on low heat 2-3 hours. The meat should be soft and falling apart.
4. Carefully remove the meat and reduce your sauce. It should be a light syrupy consistency – imagine it should stick lightly around the pasta
5. While the sauce is reducing, break the meat apart into smaller pieces. Cook the pasta until al dente. Make sure to reserve a small ladleful of pasta water just before draining.
6. Return the cooked pasta to the pan, add the sauce, torn basil and pasta water and stir gently to combine. The pasta water will help the sauce cling to the pasta.
7. Serve with the freshly grated parmesan
8. Bon appetit!

Recipe Notes

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