Shredded Beef Ragu: A Thick, Slow Cooked Sauce for Pasta

Shredded Beef Ragu: A Thick, Slow Cooked Sauce for Pasta requires a 2.5 lb (1.2 kg) beef chuck roast and 28 oz (800 g) of canned crushed tomatoes. The meat breaks down completely after two and a half hours on the stove. This creates a thick coating that sticks right to the noodles.

The Beef Ragu

You cut the beef chuck roast into four equal pieces. The smaller blocks cook thoroughly within the two-hour window.

Sear the meat aggressively in a pot with olive oil first. Take the beef out and cook the diced onion, garlic, carrots, and celery slowly over low heat. The vegetables soften and sweeten the base of the sauce. You can leave the carrots and celery out if you do not have them on hand.

You can use a full-bodied red wine like merlot or cabernet sauvignon for the cooking liquid. Combine the wine with the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, water, and bouillon cubes. Liquid beef stock works fine as a substitute if you want to skip the water and bouillon cubes altogether. Toss in the dried thyme and bay leaves. Bring the pot up to a simmer and immediately drop the heat.

The long simmer

Cover the pot and let the liquid barely bubble on low heat for two hours. Maintaining a very gentle simmer ensures the sauce does not burn on the bottom of the pot, which easily happens if the mixture boils too fast.

Canned tomatoes vary in sweetness. You should taste the sauce near the end of the cooking time. You might need to add a small amount of sugar to balance the acidity. Adjust the salt and black pepper at this stage.

Shredding the beef

Pull the cooked meat out of the pot after two hours. Use two forks to pull the beef apart into coarse shreds.

Put the shredded meat back into the pot and simmer the Beef Ragu for another thirty minutes. The extra time on the stove thickens the liquid. The extra time also softens the meat further.

Adapting for a slow cooker

You might prefer to cook the meat in a slow cooker. You need to watch the clock if you choose this route. The meat turns into mush if you leave it in a slow cooker for more than eight hours.

Pay attention to the liquids and seasonings when adapting the dish for a pressure cooker or a slow cooker. Adding water and extra salt or black pepper to these appliances will result in an overly thin and salty sauce.

Pasta & Serving

Wide, flat egg pastas resist breaking when tossed. Pappardelle provides ample surface area for thick sauces to grab. You can use tagliatelle or fettuccine if pappardelle is unavailable.

Boil a large pot of salted water. Cook the noodles for one minute less than the package instructions. The pasta needs to finish cooking directly in the pan with the sauce.

Move the cooked pasta right into a wide skillet of hot Beef Ragu. Add three-quarters of a cup of starchy pasta water and toss the pan constantly for one to two minutes. The motion emulsifies the liquids so the sauce clings evenly to the noodles. You will get a poor coating if you plate plain cooked pasta and simply spoon the sauce over the top.

Storage and leftovers

The pasta must be eaten immediately after tossing it with the sauce. Plate the dish and top it with freshly grated parmesan or parmigiano reggiano cheese. Add some finely chopped fresh parsley if you want some extra color.

You can make the sauce ahead of time. The taste of the sauce improves when left to sit until the following day. Store the cooled meat sauce in the refrigerator for up to five days. The sauce also freezes well and can be kept frozen for several months. Wait to boil the pasta until you are ready to eat.