Beef Short Rib Ragu Pasta Sauce With Rigatoni (VIDEO)

Beef short rib ragu is a delicious homemade pasta dish that you can easily put together in your own kitchen! Join Eric from Simply Elegant Home Cooking as he shares this easy Italian recipe! There are a few secret ingredients in this rich, hearty pasta sauce. The trick is to use cinnamon and ground cloves. These spices, while a little unorthodox in Italian cooking, will add a satisfying warmth to the dish. The dish is slowly braised on the stove for 2+ hours and finished with freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and fresh Italian parsley!

Ingredients:
-2 pounds of bone in short ribs (yielding roughly 1.5 pounds when trimmed of excess fat)
-1 to 2 tablespoons extra virgin Italian olive oil
-1 large onion diced up
-1 to 2 tablespoons tomato paste
-1/2 cup Italian red wine (Eric typically uses Chianti)
-2 or 3 cloves finely minced or broken down in garlic press
-5 sprigs of fresh thyme (leaves only)
-1 28 ounce can of DOP certified San Marzano Tomatoes
-1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
-1 pinch of ground cloves
-1 pound rigatoni pasta (preferably De Cecco, or other high quality Italian pasta)
-Salt and pepper to taste
-Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
-Fresh Italian Parsley, chopped

Directions:

-Remove beef short ribs from the fridge an hour before cooking begins. If there is excess fat, trim it off. Pat ribs dry with a paper towel and, just before cooking, season liberally with salt and pepper on all sides.

-Heat up a large pot on medium to medium high heat. Once pan comes up to temperature, add the extra virgin olive oil and add in the short ribs. Sear for 3 to 4 minutes per side, or until good color is achieved.

-After searing, turn off the heat, remove short ribs to a plate, drain excess oil leaving about 1 tablespoon, and add the onion to the pan. Turn heat back on to medium, add salt and pepper to taste, and cook for about 5 minutes or until softened.

-Add in the garlic, thyme, tomato paste, cinnamon and ground cloves and cook for 30 seconds while stirring constantly.

-Add in the Italian red wine to deglaze the pan and stir to combine. Continue to cook until the wine is significantly reduced in volume and develops a syrupy consistency.

-While the sauce is reducing, open the can of San Marzano tomatoes and break them up with your hands, but be sure to leave some chunks.

-When the wine is reduced and syrupy in consistency, add in the hand-crushed tomatoes and their juices. Turn heat up to medium high and bring the sauce to a simmer.

-As a simmer approaches, add back in the beef short ribs and any juices from the plate. Turn the heat down to low, cover, and cook for 2 to 2.5 hours at a gentle simmer and until the bones have fallen off of the meat. Periodically turn the ribs several times during this braising process.

-When the beef is tender and the bones have fallen off, remove them to a plate and separate using 2 forks. Remove and discard and large pieces of fat. Add the shredded meat back into the sauce, stir together, and at this point you can turn on the heat for your pasta water.

-When pasta water is boiling, generously salt the water and add in the rigatoni. Cook according to the package until pasta is al dente (roughly 12 minutes).

-When pasta is ready, use a slotted spoon to remove the pasta from the water and transfer straight into the pasta sauce. Allow some of the starchy water to remain on the pasta as this will help the rigatoni marry with the sauce. Stir to combine.

-Add in the chopped fresh parsley and grate some of the Parmigiano-Reggiano either right into the the pan, or on top of the pasta once plated up.

-Serve and enjoy!