Tremendous Beef Ragu

Name: Tremendous Beef Ragu
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 195 min
Total time: 220 min
Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients: 3 lb boneless beef chuck roast; 2 tsp kosher salt; 1 tsp black pepper; 3 tbsp olive oil; 4 oz pancetta, diced; 1 large yellow onion, finely diced; 2 carrots, finely diced; 2 celery stalks, finely diced; 6 cloves garlic, minced; 3 tbsp tomato paste; 1 1/2 cups dry red wine; 1 (28 oz) can whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes; 2 cups beef stock; 2 bay leaves; 4 fresh thyme sprigs; 1 piece Parmigiano-Reggiano rind; 1 lb pappardelle or tagliatelle; 1 cup, for serving grated Parmigiano-Reggiano; 2 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Prep

25m

Cook

195m

Total

220m

Bigly says

Pay attention. I want to talk about beef ragu. Not the watery red gravy with a little crumbled hamburger floating in it like driftwood — a DISGRACE to pasta, sad, embarrassing — I'm talking about real ragu. Beef braised for hours in tomato and wine and stock until the strands fall apart and the sauce hugs every twist of pappardelle like it was born to do exactly that. Magnificent. Off the charts. The greatest meat sauce in the history of meat sauce, and I'd argue that in court if I had to.

The Italians have been doing this since before the printing press. They braise the beef WHOLE. Then they shred it INTO the sauce. That's the part the American jar-sauce industrial complex doesn't want you to know — Big Jarred Sauce, I call them, they have an army of marketers — because if you knew, you'd never buy their stuff again. You braise a chuck roast in tomato, you reduce, you shred, you toss with hot pasta and a stupid amount of parmesan. That's it. That's the whole thing. Easy math.

And here's the part that's going to sound crazy but stay with me — you cook this Sunday morning, you eat it Sunday night, and the LEFTOVERS on Monday are better. Better than Sunday. The flavor deepens. The fat re-emulsifies. The whole sauce gets richer overnight in the fridge in a way that scientists — and I've talked to food scientists, the smart ones, the ones with the PhDs — cannot fully explain. They've tried. They've run experiments. They just shrug. It just IS. Make a double batch. Future you will weep with gratitude. It's a beautiful thing.

Ingredients

3 lbboneless beef chuck roast(well-marbled, cut into 4 large chunks)
2 tspkosher salt
1 tspblack pepper
3 tbspolive oil
4 ozpancetta, diced
1 largeyellow onion, finely diced
2carrots, finely diced
2celery stalks, finely diced
6 clovesgarlic, minced
3 tbsptomato paste
1 1/2 cupsdry red wine
1 (28 oz) canwhole peeled San Marzano tomatoes(crushed by hand, real San Marzanos, accept no substitutes)
2 cupsbeef stock
2bay leaves
4fresh thyme sprigs
1 pieceParmigiano-Reggiano rind(the secret weapon, save your rinds)
1 lbpappardelle or tagliatelle
1 cup, for servinggrated Parmigiano-Reggiano
2 tbspfresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Steps

1
Pat the beef chunks dry and season generously on all sides with kosher salt and pepper.
2
Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sear the beef in batches, about 4 minutes per side, until deeply browned all over. Transfer to a plate.
3
Reduce heat to medium. Add the pancetta and cook 4-5 minutes until the fat renders and it begins to crisp.
4
Add the onion, carrots, and celery with a pinch of salt. Cook 10 minutes, stirring often, until soft and beginning to caramelize.
5
Stir in the garlic and cook 1 minute. Add the tomato paste and cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until brick-red and slightly sticky.
6
Pour in the red wine, scraping up the browned bits. Simmer until reduced by half, about 5 minutes.
7
Add the crushed tomatoes with their juice, beef stock, bay leaves, thyme, and the parmesan rind. Stir to combine.
8
Return the beef and any accumulated juices to the pot, nestling the chunks into the sauce. Bring to a gentle simmer.
9
Cover and transfer to a 300°F oven. Braise 2.5 to 3 hours, turning the beef once, until it shreds easily with a fork.
10
Lift the beef onto a board. Shred with two forks, discarding any large fat pieces. Remove and discard the bay leaves, thyme stems, and parmesan rind.
11
Return the shredded beef to the sauce. Simmer uncovered 10-15 minutes to thicken slightly. Taste and adjust salt.
12
Meanwhile, cook the pappardelle in well-salted water until just shy of al dente. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water before draining.
13
Add the pasta directly to the pot of ragu. Toss vigorously, adding splashes of pasta water until the sauce clings to every strand.
14
Serve in warm bowls topped with a heavy hand of grated parmesan and a scatter of parsley.

One more thing

You twirl a forkful of those wide pappardelle ribbons coated in dark, glossy, beefy sauce, you take that first bite, and time slows down. The kitchen smells like a Sunday in a small Italian town that doesn't exist anymore. Maybe never existed. Doesn't matter. Tonight, in your house, it exists. Now go eat.

★ QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ONE? ★

Ask Bigly about Tremendous Beef Ragu.

Substitutions, what to serve it with, why other chefs are wrong about it. He's got opinions.

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