Beef shin ragù recipe
After several hours in the oven, this transforms into a delicious, unctuous rich sauce. This is one of the most low-effort, maximum-reward dishes out there – all that's required is a little patience.
Ingredients
- 2 –3 tbsp light olive oil
- 900 g trimmed beef shin, cut into 5cm (2in) pieces
- 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
- 2 carrots, finely chopped
- 2 onions, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 sprig of thyme
- 2 tbsp tomato purée (paste)
- 3 garlic cloves, finely grated
- 150 ml dry red wine
- 500 ml beef stock
- 1 pinch each of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 4 pinches grated Parmesan, to serve
Details
- Cuisine: Italian
- Recipe Type: Beef
- Difficulty: Easy
- Preparation Time: 10 mins
- Cooking Time: 215 mins
- Serves: 4
Step-by-step
- Preheat the oven to 160°C/320°F/gas mark 3.
- Heat 2 tbsp oil in your deep pot and brown the pieces of shin in 2–3 batches. Transfer the browned meat to a bowl and set aside.
- Add the celery, carrots and onions to the pot along with the bay leaves and thyme. Cook over a low to medium heat for 20 minutes, stirring regularly until the vegetables have reduced considerably but not browned. Add a little more oil if your pot seems dry. This process is about slow, steady cooking to draw out the sweetness of the vegetables and evaporate a lot of their water content. Encourage any small pieces of caramelised meat on the base of the pot to dissolve into the vegetables as they cook.
- When the 20 minutes are up, add the tomato purée (paste) and garlic. Cook for another 2 minutes before adding the wine and stock and a generous pinch of salt and some pepper.
- Add the beef (and any collected juices) back into the pot. Allow everything to come back to a gentle simmer, pop the lid on, transfer to the oven and cook for 3 hours with a good stir halfway through.
- Take the pot out of the oven. Using a wooden spoon, break the pieces of meat up, mixing them well as you go until your ragù takes shape. Make sure you scrape down the sides of the pot – those dark stuck-on bits are full of flavour and should be incorporated into the ragù. Taste and season with more salt if you feel it needs it.
- Serve topped with grated Parmesan and more black pepper.
This recipe is from Foolproof One-Pot by Alan Rosenthal (Quadrille, £12.99). Photography by Rita Platts.
You might also like: