Pappardelle With Slow Cooked Beef Ragu

Pastas are one of those foods with a high pay-off despite minimal effort, and that's also exactly what slow cookers are for. Delicate pappardelle tossed in slow-braised beef ragu and its thick and rich sauce – we love how uncomplicated yet tasty this dish is.

Yield: Serves 4
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 500 mins
Difficulty Level: 3/5

Ingredients

• 2 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large (200 g) brown onion, chopped finely
• 6 drained anchovy fillets, chopped
• 3 clove garlic, chopped finely
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• ½ cup (125 ml) dry red wine
• 400 g can chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
• 1 fresh bay leaf
• 1 kilogram gravy (shin) beef, cut into 5 cm pieces
• 500 g pappardelle pasta
• fresh thyme or basil, to serve

Steps

01. Heat oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Cook onion, stirring, until softened. Add anchovy and garlic; cook about 1 min or until fragrant. Stir in tomato paste then wine; bring to the boil. Boil, uncovered, for about 3 mins or until reduced. Stir in undrained tomatoes and herbs.

Transfer mixture to a 4.5-litre (18-cup) slow cooker with beef; mix well. Cook, covered, on low for 6-8 hours, or until beef is very tender.

03. Discard bay leaf. Remove beef from cooker; shred meat coarsely. Return beef to cooker and stir though sauce. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

04. Cook pasta in a large saucepan of well-salted boiling water until just tender. Reserve ½ cup (125 ml) of the cooking water. Drain pasta. Return pasta to pan, toss through the beef ragu and the reserved cooking water if needed.

05. Serve pasta with fresh thyme or basil, if desired.

Without a slow-cooker, you can cook this ragu in the oven in a casserole dish, covered, for 3 hours at 160 C (140 C fan-forced). Make a double batch of this recipe and freeze the other half for a convenient dinner. Ragu suitable to freeze. Not suitable to microwave.Recipe and photo: bauersyndication.com.au