Beef Ragu
This Beef Ragu is cooked long and slow in a crock pot making it the perfect meal to throw together at the end of a busy day. With just a few quick simple steps beforehand you can have the meat cooking all day, developing loads of flavor and getting to that perfect fall apart melt in your mouth texture- all while your busy going about your day! After the meat has been braising all day in the crock pot, all you have to do is shred the meat up, boil the pasta, toss to combine and voila dinner is served!
To sear, or not to sear?
For this Beef Ragu, I highly recommend searing the meat first, as well as sautéing onions and garlic together before adding into the crock pot. This quick simple step not only adds flavor, but its main purpose is to lock in the juices to the meat making it more tender and moist at the end. Crunched on time, no problem! I assure you this Beef Ragu will turn out just as fabulous if you forego these 2 steps. Everything cooks slowly in the crock pot creating that delicious savory slightly sweet yet slightly acidic flavor from the tomatoes with the umami from the meat.
Sprucing it up
Want to make this Beef Ragu extra special? To make this Beef Ragu even tastier, get yourself some authentic Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese, a whole block not pre-shredded, and micro-plane this on top of your pasta bowl with the beef ragu. On to that sprinkle some fresh herbs, like parsley finely chopped. This will take this dish to another level! But in a pinch, pre grated parmesean, (which my family refers to as “shakey cheese” ever since we heard one of my favorite chefs, Ludo Lefebvre, refer to it as that) will do just fine. If your a lover of heat like my husband, sprinkle some dried red pepper on top for a little extra kick!
Leftovers
Storing for later? Made too much of this Beef Ragu, or planning to make ahead and freeze for later. This Beef Ragu can be prepared and frozen for a later time. If thats the case I would buy the meat fresh not frozen. To help ensure the pasta does not dry out, I would reserve some of the pasta water you boil the noodles in and toss with the finished pasta and beef ragu as the noodles will absorb the extra moisture. Simply thaw under refrigeration and re-heat to serve.
Beef Ragu
Equipment
- 1 Crock Pot
- 1 Cast Iron Pan large
- 1 Pasta Pot
Ingredients
- 1.5 pound chuck roast
- 2 tbsp oil, ghee, tallow choose your preference, highest smoke point preferred for searing
- 1 sweet onion
- 3 cloves garlic minced (or 2 teaspoons of already minced garlic)
- 1- 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 glass dry red wine (substitute beef broth)
- 2 tbsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cracked black pepper
- 16 ounces pappardelle pasta
- grated parmesean cheese (per preference on top)
Instructions
- Pat dry chuck roast. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tbsp of oil of your choice over high heat in cast iron skillet. Once oil is hot and shimmering add the meat to skillet and sear each side until char develops on the meat. Rotating until all sides are browned. Approximately 5 minutes.
- Slice onions and mince garlic and saute these aromatics together in the skillet with remaining 1 tbsp oil.
- Place seared chuck roast in crock pot on low heat, add onions and garlic to slow cooker. Add can of crushed tomatoes with the liquid, tomato paste, red wine, dried oregano.
- Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or high 4-6 hours.
- Near the end of the meat cooking time, cook pasta according to package directions. Strain pasta.
- Serve the meat ragu over cooked pasta and top with parmesean cheese.
