Beef ragu
Beef ragu is an aromatic, flavourful dish of Italian cuisine. This meat dish is simple to make and you can easily combine all its elements. Without a doubt, next to risotto, ragu is one of my favourite Italian dishes. The basis of ragu is ground or sliced beef, finely chopped vegetables, red wine, beef broth and tomato sauce. The below recipe is for beef ragu, but it is only one of many types of ragu that can be prepared, because this dish can also use duck meat, sausage meat and a lot of various vegetables.
Start preparing the ragu by frying cleaned cubes of beef in olive oil. Next, fry the vegetables, add herbs, broth, tomato passata and previously fried meat. Simmer over a low heat, stirring occasionally. When the meat is soft, take it out onto a plate and shred it with a fork, then put it back into the pot, season to taste and simmer for a while. During simmering, the flavours and aromas of individual elements of the dish will combine into one whole, giving the ragu a deep, intense and fantastic taste. Serve the beef ragu with tagliatelle pasta, sprinkled with a bit of parmesan cheese and parsley. I encourage you to try the below recipe for Italian beef ragu and I hope you will enjoy.
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Ingredients for beef ragu.
- 500 g beef (e.g. leg)
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 50 g celery stick
- 150 g carrot
- 100 g onion
- 1 teaspoon of Italian herbs
- 2 big cloves of garlic
- 200 g tomato passata
- 80 ml dry red wine
- 1 teaspoon of tomato concentrate
- 450 ml beef broth
- 2-3 springs of fresh thyme
- a pinch of crystal sugar
Additionally (to serve):
- 250 g tagliatelle
- water for cooking the pasta
- salt for cooking the pasta
- a bunch of parsley
- grated parmezan
How to make beef ragu.
Pour a tablespoon of olive oil into a pot, heat it up, and add the beef cut into cubes. Fry the meat on each side until it is lightly browned – about a minute per side. Then take it out onto a plate and pour the remaining tablespoon of olive oil into the pot, add diced carrots, onion, celery, thyme and mashed garlic. Fry over a medium heat for 4-5 minutes, add beef broth, tomato passata, wine, tomato concentrate, sugar, Italian herbs, the fried meat and bring it to a boil. Cook over a low heat, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Next, cover the pot with a lid and continue cooking until the meat is soft – about 3 hours. Remove the soft meat to a plate, shred it with a fork and when ready, put it back into the pot, add salt and pepper and cook over a low heat for about 30 minutes or until you obtain a relatively thick sauce.
Cook the tagliatelle pasta according to the instructions on its packaging, in water salted with a small teaspoon of salt. Pour the cooked pasta into a colander, rinse with cold water and set it aside for a moment to drain the excess water. Serve the ragu mixed with pasta, sprinkled with grated parmesan and finely chopped parsley.
Good to know when making beef ragu.
I cut the meat into 3.5-4 centimetre long pieces. Fry the meat without stirring, i.e. keep each side on the heat for about a minute, but do not stir the meat during this time.
When you take out the meat to shred, also remove the thyme sprigs. You can throw away the thyme sprigs after removing them from the pot.
I cook tagliatelle pasta according to the instructions on its packaging and it takes about 6 minutes.
Do you like dishes with beef? If so, try our recipe for Bulgogi Korean beef.
