SLOW COOKED SHREDDED BEEF RAGU PASTA

Ingredients

Ragu

• 2.5 lb  chuck beef or other slow cooking beef cut, cut into equal 4 pieces (Note 1)
• 1 tbsp salt
• Black pepper
• 3 tbsp olive oil , separated
• 3 cloves garlic , minced
• 1 onion , diced
• 1 cup carrots , diced (Note 2)
• 1 cup celery , diced (Note 2)
• 28 oz  crushed canned tomatoes
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 beef bouillon cubes, crumbled (Note 3)
• 1 cup full bodied (like merlot, cabernet sauvignon), or sub with beef broth
• 1 1/2 cups  water (Note 3)
• 3/4 tsp dried thyme or 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 3 dried bay leaves
• Extra salt and pepper , to taste

To Serve (Not all Sauce is used)

• 1 lb  dried pappardelle, or other pasta of choice (Note 4)
• Freshly grated parmesan cheese or parmigiano reggiano
• Fresh parsley , finely chopped (optional)

Instructions

1. Pat beef dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper
2. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil over high heat in a heavy based pot. Add beef and sear each piece on all sides until browned (around 3 minutes in total), then remove onto a plate.
3. Turn stove down to medium low and add remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil.
4. Add garlic and onion and sauté for 2 minutes. Then add the carrots and celery and sauté slowly for 5 minutes.
5. Add remaining Ragu ingredients (except extra salt and pepper) and return the beef to the pot (add the juices too). Turn the stove up and bring it to a simmer, then turn it down to low (Note 7) (see Note 5 for slow cooker and pressure cooker). Cover the pot and let it cook for 2 hours or until beef is tender enough to shred.
6. Remove beef then coarsely shred with 2 forks. Return beef to the pot. Simmer for 30 minutes until sauce is reduced and thickened - beef will soften slightly more during this step.
7. Do a taste test and adjust the seasoning to your taste with salt and pepper. ALSO add a little but of sugar (1/2 tsp at a time!) if it is a bit sour for your taste (Note 6). Place the lid on and set aside until ready to serve (it's even better the next day and freezes well for months!).

To Serve:

1. Bring a very large pot of water with 1 tbsp of salt to the boil.
2. Add pasta and cook for 1 minute less than the recommended cooking time as per the packet instructions.
3. Meanwhile, place 5 cups of the Ragu in a very large fry pan, dutch oven or use 2 normal size fry pans. (Note 4) Heat over high heat while the pasta is cooking.
4. When the pasta is ready, transfer it directly from the pot into the fry pan using tongs.
5. Add 3/4 cup of pasta water into the fry pan.
6. Gently toss the pasta (I use 2 wooden spoons) for 1 to 2 minutes, until the sauce water evaporates and leaves you with a thick Ragu sauce that coats the pasta.
7. Yell for your family to sit down at the dinner table because you need to serve it immediately!
8. Serve with plenty of freshly grated parmesan, or even better, with parmigiano reggiano.

Notes

1. Cut the beef into 4 pieces that are around the size of a baseball. The cook time of this recipe assumes you do this. In Australia, you can buy chuck and other slow cooking beef cut into cubes or into thick slices. If you use cubes, reduce the cooking time by 30 minutes, and just be mindful that it takes slightly longer to shred because you're working with lots of pieces of beef. 

2. Celery and carrots sautéed with the onions and garlic is called "soffritto" in Italian cooking. It is a very traditional base for many Italian dishes. Cooking them slowly over low heat releases their flavour and adds an extra dimension to this dish. BUT it is optional! I don't often have celery lying around and also, sometimes I don't have the energy for the extra chopping!

3. You could use liquid beef stock instead of water + stock cubes.

4. Pappardelle pasta is the thick wide pasta and is ideal for this recipe because the shreds of beef cling to the thick pasta strands.

You need a really large fry pan or dutch oven to make this using an entire 1lb/500g packet of pasta because you need the space to toss the sauce and pasta together with the pasta water. This is called "emulsifying" and it is a KEY secret to awesome pastas. Italian Nonna's will roll over in their graves if you don't do this! So if you don't have a large fry pan, do this step in two fry pans. I can't stress enough what a difference emulsifying makes to pastas!

5. To make this in a slow cooker or pressure cooker, follow recipe to the end of Step 4 on the stove (or if your slow cooker has a saute function, you can do it all in the slow cooker). Turn heat up to high, add wine, stir and simmer for 3 minutes. Then transfer it all to the slow cooker or pressure cooker, and add all remaining ingredients EXCEPT water and extra salt & pepper.

Slow cook on low for 6 - 8 hours (i.e. 6 is enough, 8 hrs is fine, any more = beef turns to mush). Or pressure cook on high for 40 minutes. Shred beef then following recipe.

6. The sweetness of canned tomatoes differs depending on brand (typically more expensive = sweeter). So adjust the sweetness of your sauce to your taste by using sugar - 1/2 tsp at a time.

7. Turn the heat of the stove down to a level where it is bubbling very, very gently - a few bubbles here and there. This usually LOW on Gas Stoves but might be medium low on electric stoves. If it is too high - i.e. simmering rapidly (lots of bubbles appearing rapidly) - then you run the risk of the bottom burning. If it is too low, it will take longer to cook.