#hastalapasta

I’m going through something that can only be described as a “Pasta Renaissance”. Or a Pastaissance if you please. I’m moving out of the dark ages, into the light known as a pile of hot spaghetti topped with savory meat sauce. You can say that my life is going pretty well right now.

The short ribs are slow cooked in a mixture of tomatoes, beef stock and herbs so you don’t have to be worried about spending all evening over the stove. I guarantee that it will be difficult to stay away from the kitchen as the tantalising aroma of garlic, basil, and browned butter fill your home. Slow cooking the beef ensures that is is perfectly tender, the kind of stuff that just melts in your mouth. The best part about this: you only have one pot to wash at the end of the day.

This meal is the perfect thing to come home to on a Friday night after a long week at work/school. Imaging a blazing fire in the hearth, a cold glass of beautifully dark Nederberg in your hand and a steaming pile of flavoursome meat. That, my friends is exactly what I have aimed to bring you this week. Eat, drink and be merry!

One Pot Browned Butter Ragu

Ingredients

For the beef:

3 pounds short ribs

3 tbsp all purpose flour

4 tbsp butter

For the sauce: 

1 medium yellow onion

½ small red onion

1 carrot

2 cloves garlic

14 oz can pomodoro tomatoes

2 tbsp tomato paste

½ cup beef stock

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp chilli powder

½ tsp ground cinnamon

Method

1. Salt and pepper both sides of the short ribs before dusting in the flour. Heat some oil in the bottom of a large cast iron pot and sear both sides of the beef on high heat until browned and crispy, about 5 minutes on each side. Remove to a separate plate.
2. In the same pot, melt the butter until brown and foamy and smells distinctly nutty. Pour the butter all over the short ribs.
3. Add another swig of oil to the pot and add the red and yellow onion to the pot. Cook until softened, about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the carrots and cook until softened, another 2 minutes. Finally add the garlic and cook 30 seconds, or until fragrant.
4. Pour in the beef stock and the pomodoro tomatoes, crushing the tomatoes in the pot. Add the tomato paste followed by the basil, oregano, thyme, chilli powder and cinnamon. Stir to get all the ingredients nice and acquainted. Season with salt and pepper. Lay the seared short ribs on top of everything and spoon some of the sauce on top of it. Reduce the heat to low and cook for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.
5. After 3 hours have passed, remove the ribs from the pot and shred using 2 forks. Add the ribs back to the pot and cook for another hour.
6. About 20 minutes before you’re ready to serve, prepare the pasta according to the package instructions. Drain pasta and move to casserole dish. Take a few ladles of the beef ragù from the pot and stir into the pasta. When all the pasta is covered in sauce stop.
7. To serve: lay the desired amount of saucy pasta on the plate. Top with a few spoonfuls of ragù, Parmesan cheese and fresh herbs. Serve immediately with a glass of red wine