Slow Cooked Beef Shin Ragu
This slow-cooked beef shin ragu is so rich and so good, served with tagliatelle pasta for a bowl of pure comfort. It requires some time, but the dish itself is minimal effort to put together.
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
For the ragu:
- 500 g beef shin
- 2 large carrots peeled and diced
- 1 white onion diced
- 2 celery stalks diced
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 small bunch of fresh thyme
- 1 Parmesan rind
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 100 ml red wine something you would drink but nothing expensive
- 350 ml beef stock
- 1 x 400g tin of tinned chopped tomatoes or passata
- ½ tsp sugar or 1 tsp balsamic glaze
To serve:
- 400 g tagliatelle or pappardelle
- Parmesan
- Fresh parsley or basil to top
Instructions
- Pat the beef shin dry to help them brown nicely. Season generously with salt and, if possible, leave them uncovered in the fridge overnight to dry brine. If you don’t have time, just move on to searing.
- Heat a large Dutch oven pot (you want an ovenproof dish with a lid and heavy bottom) over high heat. Add a drizzle of oil then sear the beef shin until they’re well browned but definitely not cooked, then set aside. You just want some colour.
- I like to blitz the carrots, celery, garlic and onions in my food processor for a quick fine dice. But you can also do by hand. Add the diced veg to the same pan in which you seared the shin, with a little salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes.
- Stir in the tomato paste and the red wine. Let it cook for a couple of minutes. Heat the oven to 160°C fan/180°C conventional/355°F.
- Add the bay leaves, thyme, parm rind, and tinned tomatoes to the pot and the stock. You want enough stock to almost cover the beef shin – around 350 but could be more (e.g. 500ml), depending on your pan. Bring everything to a gentle simmer, then nestle the beef shin back into the sauce. Cover with a lid.
- Cook low and slow for about 2.5 hours in the oven. If you’d rather, you can do it on the stove on a really low simmer for 2 hours, until the meat is falling-apart tender.
- Shred up the meat and add back to the sauce.
- At this stage, you can refrigerate the ragu for up to 3-4 days and reheat when needed.
- Then boil the pasta in well-salted boiling water and then drain. Add the pasta to the pan of ragu. Add a few spoons of pasta water and toss together. Top with parmesan and fresh parsley or basil.
- The video below will help with this recipe.
Video
Notes
Scroll up for a step by step guide on how to make this beef shin ragu.
To Store: Keep leftover ragu in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days.
To Reheat: Gently reheat the ragu either on the stove over low heat (covered) until warmed through. Add a splash of stock or water if the sauce has thickened too much.
To Freeze: Once cooled completely, portion into airtight containers with some of the sauce. Freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge before reheating gently.
Make Ahead: I find the flavour often improves after a night or two in the fridge. Cook the ragu fully, let them cool, then refrigerate overnight. Skim any solidified fat from the surface before reheating.
Parmesan rind - If you don’t have one spare or in the freezer, just cut the rind off the one you have open in the fridge. You can still grate the rest but the rind is just used here!
Nutrition
Calories: 550kcal | Carbohydrates: 82g | Protein: 33g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 113mg | Sodium: 331mg | Potassium: 963mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 5284IU | Vitamin C: 7mg | Calcium: 84mg | Iron: 4mg