Elevate Dinner with Boneless Short Rib Ragu

An elegant dinner doesn't need to be difficult. A good cut of meat, quality ingredients and a little preparation time is all you need to make a beautifully presentable meal. This boneless short rib ragu is rich and delicious. The deep flavour comes from braising the short ribs and then simmering the meat in red wine, tomatoes and seasoning. Serve this over pasta or with my best garlic mashed potatoes and WOW your guests!

Take your Time

The ragu needs time for all those delicious flavours to blend. From start to finish, this recipe will take roughly 2.5 hours. Boneless short rib ragu is great for a weekend meal or save it for a day when you can take some time to cook from scratch. Let's gather our ingredients and get started on this simple, yet elegant, dish.

What you will need:

• baking sheet

• large pot

• pasta for serving or potatoes

Boneless Short Rib Ragu

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 2.5 hours

Serves: 6 people

Ingredients

• 2 lbs boneless beef short ribs

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil (divided)

• 1 small onion, finely diced

• 2 celery ribs, finely diced

• 4 cloves garlic, minced

• 235 ml (1 cup) dry red wine (I used chianti)

• 3 teaspoons beef bouillon paste dissolved in 355 ml of warm water (1 1/2 cups)

• 28 oz can peeled whole tomatoes

• 2 Tablespoons tomato paste

• 1 parmesan cheese rind (optional)

• ½ teaspoon kosher salt (add to taste)

• ½ teaspoon black pepper

• 3 sprigs fresh thyme

• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil

• 2 bay leaves

• Pinch crushed red pepper flakes

Directions

1. Set oven to 400 degrees F. Trim any chunks of fat from the short ribs. Coat short ribs with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add short ribs to a baking sheet. Season with salt and better. Place in hot oven for 20mins to sear.

2. In a large pot on medium-high heat add one tablespoon olive oil. Add diced celery and diced onion. Cook for 3-4 mins until onion is translucent. Add garlic. Add canned tomatoes (mash tomatoes to break into pieces)

3. Now add the red wine to the pot, dissolved beef bouillon mix, tomato paste, parmesan cheese rind, salt, pepper, dried oregano, dried basil, bay leaves and red pepper flakes. Stir.

4. Place short ribs and fresh thyme in pot. Without stirring bring to a boil, reduce heat cover pot and simmer for 2 hours.

5. After cooking time has elapsed remove bay leaves, thyme sprigs and cheese rind (discard) Remove short ribs from pot and place on a tray or cutting board. Shred the meat with two forks.

6. Add shredded short ribs back to pot. Let the ragu simmer uncovered for 30 minutes. (the sauce will thicken the longer it simmers)

7. Cook pasta or prepare garlic mashed potatoes. (short rib ragu is often served with pappardelle pasta)

8. Spoon the ragu over the cooked pasta, add shredded parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!