Just a little bit of prep is required for this amazing beef ragu. The beef is cooked
to perfection in a rich lip-smacking sauce, it really is warm comforting perfect soul food.
Hi I'm Nicky welcome back to our kitchen where we show you how to make delicious family-friendly
recipes. This beef ragu has some amazing flavors with delicious slow-cooked, fall-apart beef
it's perfect for the whole family or as a special treat for date night, so let's get cooking. We're
going to start by preheating the oven to 160c or 325f. I've got a kilogram which is about two and
a quarter pounds of braising or stewing beef here. This is usually from the chuck, skirt or flank cuts
of the beef. You want some nice big chunky pieces in there because they're going to be slow-cooked.
And we're going to coat the beef, first sprinkle over three heaped tablespoons of plain all-purpose
flour and half a teaspoon each of salt and pepper and then mix it all together to coat the beef.
Now I'm going to be making this in my cast iron dutch oven because we're going to be cooking it
in the oven but if you prefer you can do the first steps in a frying pan and then transfer it over to
a slow cooker. I'll leave some information in the description so you can see how to do this.
Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil on a medium to high heat,
add the beef to the pan and seal and brown the meat. You might need
to do this in a couple of batches depending on the size of your pan.
Once the beef is browned then add in two medium onions that have been finely diced
and cook on a low heat for three to four minutes until the onion starts to soften.
Now add in four medium carrots and three sticks of celery that have been finely diced,
along with three cloves of minced garlic and cook for another two minutes.
Add in two tablespoons of tomato puree or paste and stir.
Now we're going to turn the heat up to high and add in the wine. I know some of you don't cook
with alcohol so if you prefer you can leave this step out and then just add in some more
stock when we add the stock later. So we're adding 300 ml which is about one and a quarter cups of
red wine to the pan. Let it bubble for a couple of minutes and scrape up any bits that might
have stuck to the bottom of the pan.
Now add in two 400 gram or 14 oz tins of chopped tomatoes,
600 mil or two and a half cups of beef stock and a teaspoon of dried thyme.
Stir everything together and bring it to the boil.
Now we're going to place a lid on that and place it in the preheated oven for about three to four
hours until the beef is lovely and tender and that sauce is rich and delicious. You want to
give it a check every hour or so just to make sure it's not running dry, if it is starting to look a
bit dry then just add in a splash of boiling water or stock, this is going to be amazing.
This is one of those dishes that I like to make at the weekend and then I might use the
time whilst it's in the oven to bake something or even make some homemade pasta to go with it.
Serve with some pasta and a sprinkling of fresh parsley and parmesan.
If you've got the time I'd definitely recommend making your own pasta it's simpler to do than
you might think. Alternatively, if you're in a bit of a rush and you've got a hankering for
those classic Italian flavors then why not try my quick and easy spag bol, see you next time!