Beef Short Rib Ragu

Unbelievably, beef short rib ragu is one of the easiest recipes there is. The ingredients list is short and familiar, and the cooking prep and maintenance are low demand. Yes, it takes 3.5 hours to cook, but that is 3.5 hours that the oven is doing the work- not you! And finally, the reward for all that not-so-hard work is a swoon-worthy meat sauce dripping over flat pasta and a full and satisfied belly.

Short ribs recipes always deliver a ‘wow!’ in return for very little effort. Spicy Korean gochujang short ribs are my son’s favourite and a dish that I love to roll out for celebrations. 

We are still winter-deep here in the UK and I find myself leaning towards recipes that require long stretches of oven time.

Not only do they keep the house warm and deliver a radiating meal from the inside out, they also mean I get to cosy up under a blanket with a hot cup of tea while the oven does the work. Who’s with me?!

Ragu recipes

Although a popular term, the word ragu can sometimes be confusing to use. Let me break it down for you. Ragu basically means ‘meat sauce’.

It can be made from any meat, for example, fall-off-the-bone beef short ribs, like this Italian beef recipe, or ground beef and pork, like my Tuscan ragu, even with chicken, duck or wild boar! 

It also requires soffritto, a vegetable base of carrot, onion and celery that almost every soup, stew and sauce can benefit from. Soffritto literally means ‘slow fried’ which is crucial as that is how these rooty flavours are released and then infuse the meat and sauce. 

Finally, it takes time. I say time, which does not necessarily mean effort, thankfully! This beef ragu is a blissful 3.5 hours cook time independent of the cook. That means YOU have 3.5 hours to do something else! What will you do??

Besides serving over pasta, beef ragu offers a cornucopia of recipes to choose from. Try your newly perfected meat sauce as lasagna, stuffed shells, stuffed peppers or add some ‘nduja to your ragu pasta for a spicier version.

How to cook short ribs

Short ribs, not to be confused with spare ribs (that come from the back of the cow), are inexpensive, exquisitely fatty, brimming with beefy flavour and perfect for a long, slow, braise. 

Step one is to choose ribs that are well-marbled and meaty. There should be a thin layer of fat too, but this shouldn’t be equal to or outweigh the meat. If there is a bit too much you can just trim it off. Fat is actually good! So don’t get too hung up about it. 

To cook, there are four simple rules to go by:

1. Brown. Before anything else, brown the ribs on all sides. And then, in the same oil and fat, sauté the veg. Don’t get rid of anything!
2. Braise. This is the process of covering the meat in liquid for cooking. In this case, red wine. Red wine brings out the best in beef- all iron and earth.
3. Cook low. Turning up the heat will dry everything out and reduce cooking time. No thank you!
4. Cook slow. This gives the ingredients ample opportunity to melt and meld into one: the fat and collagen will dissolve, the meat will fall from the bones, the vegetables will disintegrate and it will all become one deeply satisfying pot of steaming meaty sauce. 

Serving suggestions

Italian short ribs ragu is a macho recipe. It’s meat-heavy, uncomplicated, and served in man-size portions. I’m not excluding any women or children here, it can be enjoyed by one and all, but there is something about it that is just macho. And macho meat requires macho pasta.

I always serve mine with pappardelle. Pappardelle are the flat, wide pasta ribbons. Imagine God’s shoelaces. They bear weight, the weight of slow-cooked beef. No stringy spaghetti here, grainy orzo or dainty ditalini, choose a fat pasta with good chew.

Besides a ludicrously generous grating of parmesan, this beef ragu really needs nothing else. It’s simple (again, like men). 

However, personally, I struggle to serve anything without a side of vegetables or salad. To keep things low-prep, I’d go for easy lemon butter green beans or broccoli with lemon and garlic. 

Finally, and this might seem like overkill, bread. Or garlic bread. When you have picked out all the tender shreds of beef and slurped up the all the pasta and are left with a tantalising puddle of ragu sauce on your plate, you’ll be wishing there was a handy hunk of bread to help it to your mouth.

Storage and leftovers

Beef ragu flavour will intensify overnight thanks to the vegetable and wine-rich foundation of garlic, herbs, carrots and onions, making this a perfect get-ahead recipe or one-for-now, one-for-later. For the later, double up the recipe for double dinners. 

In the fridge, store the ragu (don’t cook the pasta until serving) in an This is an affiliate link.airtight container, it will meld broodingly for 2-3 days. The same goes for any leftovers. 

In the freezer, in a freezer-safe container, short rib ragu will keep for up to two months. Defrost in the fridge overnight before use then reheat on the stove top while cooking the pasta. Use a splash of the pasta water to loosen if the ragu seems a bit thick.

More pasta recipes to try

• Basil Pesto Pasta
• Italian Sausage and Kale Orzo
• Creamy Mustard Chicken Pasta
• Beef Tomato Pasta Sauce with ‘Nduja