Beef Cheek Ragu Pasta
Make rich beef cheek ragu pasta with tender braised beef, red wine, tomatoes, and rigatoni for a deeply comforting dinner.
Servings: 6
Adjust the serving amount to scale the ingredient list. Written quantities in the steps refer to the original recipe; adjust them in the same proportion. Timing may vary with batch size.
Prep: 20 minutes
Total: 3 hours 50 minutes
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 2 lb beef cheeks trimmed
- 1 lb rigatoni or other short pasta
- 1 large yellow onion diced
- 2 medium carrots diced
- 2 stalks celery diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 cups crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 2 cups beef stock
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more for pasta water
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 cup finely grated parmesan for serving
- 2 tablespoons chopped parsley for serving
Instructions
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a heavy Dutch oven. Season the beef cheeks with salt and pepper, then brown them well on all sides. Transfer to a plate.
- Add the onion, carrots, and celery to the pot and cook until softened. Stir in the garlic for 30 seconds.
- Pour in the red wine and scrape up the browned bits. Simmer for 3 minutes, then add the tomatoes and beef stock.
- Return the beef cheeks to the pot. Cover and simmer very gently for about 3 hours, until the meat is fork-tender.
- Transfer the beef to a bowl and shred it. Return the meat to the sauce and simmer uncovered until thick and glossy.
- Cook the pasta in well-salted water until just tender. Reserve a cup of pasta water, then drain.
- Toss the pasta with enough ragu to coat it, loosening with pasta water as needed. Serve with parmesan and parsley.