A lot has happened since my last post! I was pregnant and did NOT want to be in the kitchen, so blogging was the last thing on my mind. I ate a ton of toasted Hawaiian Sweet Rolls with butter, PB&J sandwiches, rice, and preferred to eat out vs cooking at home. No crazy cravings, but I bought a jar of gherkins just in case. Somehow my pregnancy has made me less lactose intolerant, so I’ve been able to eat regular ice cream again! Yes!
My baby girl was born ten days early on 10/06, weighing at 6lbs, 13oz, and was 20 inches long. Tim and I are exhausted and extremely sleep deprived, but we are loving it and feel so incredibly blessed.
Now that she’s here and I am on maternity leave, I’m slowly getting my mojo back in the kitchen. I have been cooking more the last few weeks, but nothing blog worthy…
That is, until I saw this recipe from Half Baked Harvest and couldn’t get it out of my mind!
SHORT RIB RAGU
INGREDIENTS (serves 6 – 8, cook time 5 hours) – recipe adapted from Half Baked Harvest
- 3 lbs short ribs
- 2 tbsp vegetable or canola oil
- 2 26.46 San Merican Tomato – Tomatoes Crushed Aseptic (not canned)
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 Better Than Bouillon – Roasted Beef Base
- 4 ribs celery, cut into small pieces
- 2 carrots, cut into small pieces
- 8 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 oz tomato paste
- 1 1/4 cup Sangiovese or any dry red wine of your liking
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 1/2 tsp dried parsley
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
- Parmigiano Regiano and rind (to add to the sauce if you have it on hand)
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 ball burrata cheese
- 1 lb dry pappardelle pasta
PREPARATION
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Salt and pepper all sides of the short ribs on a sheet tray.
- Use a braiser or a Dutch oven on medium-high heat, add oil and bring to temp.
- Sear all sides of the short ribs until it has a nice crust all around. Remove and set aside.
- Reduce heat to medium. Add celery, carrots, and garlic. Sauté for one minute, gently scraping the brown bits off the bottom.
- Carefully add the rest of ingredients and gently stir. Make sure bouillon is completely dissolved before adding short ribs back into the sauce.
- Add ribs back in, place the butter on top, cover with the lid, and put in the oven. I checked the ribs at about the 3 hour mark to see if the bones were falling off, but they weren’t. I flipped them so the other side could cook in the sauce and left it in there for another 2 hours. Checking every 30-45 minutes.
- Once all the bones have fallen off, remove from the oven, discard the bones and parm rind (if you added one), and shred your meat. Mix it with the sauce.
- Cook your pasta to your desired done-ness and toss it with the ragu.
- Grate some parm over your dish and add some of the burrata.
A few notes:
- I don’t think I was supposed to add the butter on top of the ragu, but I did and it was fine.
- I didn’t have thyme, but parsley worked.
- You can use beef broth like in the original recipe, but I thought the bouillon gave this a ton more flavor. Add more if you need to. I probably used closer to 2/3 cup…
- Don’t spend too much on the red wine, unless you already have some in your possession and you’re going to drink some with dinner. I don’t drink red wine. I paid $3.99 for a bottle at Trader Joe’s, which was perfect.
- You don’t have to add sugar if you’re anti, but it does cut through the acidity and gives the dish a more balanced flavor. You can probably sub honey in, but I can’t tell you if that will taste good. Maybe it will.
- I’m allergic to onions, so I omitted them. Feel free to add some if you want. Half an onion, finely chopped would suffice.
- I cooked this WAY longer than the original recipe calls for, but I really wanted to make sure the meat was tender and perhaps that’s what made it extra delicious. The original recipe has instructions for slow cooker and Instant Pot, so you can check that out if you would rather not have your oven on for 5 hours. To be fair, I baked cookies as well. Why not, right?
Ok, folks! This post took much longer than normal to type up. My baby had her witching hour in between all of this, so she’s finally down and looking like an angel. I better rush to bed before her next cycle. That is if she’s not cluster feeding…
More Than A Craving 