Beef Shin Ragu
I initially made this ragu for ma gal Martha (who can confirm it’s delish) as part of a care package, but I loved it enough to share it with you all. So let’s spread the beef shin love and keep the care packages going as chicken soup is sooooo 1462 people. We’ve moved on and we’ve got faaancier.
This beef shin ragu recipe really focuses on the ragu element, but is beautiful paired with basically any pasta. I’m personally all about the pappardelle for this one but you can use spaghetti, tagliatelle or whatever else you might fancy. I also have a top tier Beef Shin Lasagne recipe in my cookbook, which you can find here.
P.s. If you don’t fancy feeding 6 people, this ragu freezes really well!! Just make sure it’s stored in an air-tight container. I also love when I forget I’ve frozen one and then discover it in the freezer a month later. It’s the little things.
Ingredients
- 4 onions
- 4 carrots
- 1 head of celery
- 6-7 cloves of garlic
- 1.5kg boned beef shin
- 500ml good red wine (if you buy a bottle, it means you'll get a glass too)
- 3 tins of peeled plum tomatoes
- 2 bay leaves
- Salt and pepper
- Olive oil for cooking
Method
- Prep the veg! In Italian this is called soffritto. So peel and finely chop all the veg and leave to the side. Keep the garlic separate.
- Ask the butcher to de-bone the shin and remove any difficult sinew before you buy, then season up the shin of beef adding plenty of salt and pepper and a good splash of olive oil.
- Get a deep saucepan on the highest heat and when it’s gently smoking get your meat in to brown, brown on all sides and remove from the pan.
- Turn the heat down to medium and add some more oil in, then your soffritto.
- Cook the veg until soft and slightly cooked then add in the garlic and shin of beef.
- Give it all a good mix and add in the tomatoes, wine & bay leaves. Leave it on a medium-low heat with the lid on for as long as possible around 6-7 hours but more if possible haha!
- After the time has passed, just give it a taste, if the seasoning needs adjusting throw some more salt and pepper in.
- Once the beef is just falling apart start mixing so it, well.. falls apart.
- If there’s still a lot of liquid just turn the heat up slightly and let the sauce thicken, it should only take about 10-15 mins.
- If you want, you could tear up some fresh basil to add in or even spinach.
- Serve up with fresh beautiful pasta! I went for pappardelle in mine.