Beef Ragu | Dinners, Dishes, and Desserts

Why I Fell in Love With This Beef Ragu Recipe

• Easy substances, genuine taste. If there’s ever a recipe that immediately transports me to a kitchen desk within the Italian countryside, it’s this beef ragu. Wealthy, meaty, with a touch of sweetness from San Marzano tomatoes. There are lower than 10 substances, however it’s so good!
• Straightforward technique. The entire technique of slowly simmering the sauce on the stovetop to the primary chunk is tremendous rewarding.
• Even higher the subsequent day. I at all times say that if you may make beef ragu prematurely, do it! The flavors come collectively absolutely after a day or two within the fridge, and it reheats like a dream. I’ll usually make a BIG pot of sauce and freeze the leftovers for extra scrumptious pasta dinners down the highway.

What Is Ragu? 

In Italian cooking, ragu (formally spelled ragù) is a thick and hearty meat sauce served with pasta. You’ll discover brief rib ragu, beef shin ragu, and even beef brisket ragu, the frequent substances being meat and tomatoes. Technically talking, my one-pot spaghetti with meat sauce is a variation of ragu. 

Beef ragu is completely different from Bolognese, one other sort of chunky meat sauce that’s made creamier with milk.

Sauce Substances

If there’s one factor I’ve discovered from years of constructing this beef ragu, it’s that the standard of your substances immediately impacts the style of your sauce. I’ve included notes on what you’ll want right here, with solutions and substitutions. You’ll discover the complete substances checklist with quantities within the printable recipe card under the publish.

• Olive Oil – Be certain that to make use of good-quality further virgin olive oil for the very best taste. 
• Carrot, Celery, Onion – Finely chopped, to sauté with freshly minced garlic in what’s referred to as “soffritto” in Italian cooking. This creates an fragrant base for the meat sauce.
• Floor Beef – I like to make use of lean floor beef since I discover it nonetheless has a very good quantity of fats (for taste) with out being overly greasy. You might additionally use further lean floor beef for those who favor.
• Tomato Sauce – The standard of the tomatoes makes a giant distinction within the sauce. Ideally, discover tomato sauce that’s made with San Marzano tomatoes. These are Italian plum tomatoes identified for his or her sweeter, fuller taste. In case you can’t discover San Marzano tomato sauce, although, any good-quality home made or store-bought tomato sauce will work right here.

What’s the Greatest Pasta to Serve With Ragu?

The standard pasta option to serve with beef ragu is pappardelle, a kind of lengthy, vast pasta that works properly with chunkier sauces. We love spaghetti with meat sauces in my household, however you’ll be able to serve ragu with nearly any sturdy pasta, corresponding to tagliatelle, fettuccine, linguine, or brief shapes like penne and rigatoni. You probably have the time, home made pasta additionally pairs properly with this rustic pasta sauce. You’ll must cook dinner the pasta in response to the recipe or package deal instructions.

Find out how to Make Beef Ragu

Able to channel your inside “Nonna”? Listed below are the simple steps to make this genuine beef ragu on the stovetop. Afterward, scroll right down to the recipe card for the printable directions.

Ideas and Variations

• Sweeten the tomato sauce if wanted. Some manufacturers of tomato sauce are extra acidic than others. In case you discover that your ragu tastes sharp after it’s simmered for some time, sprinkle in ½ teaspoon of sugar at a time to sweeten the sauce to style.
• Preserve it at a low simmer. Flip the warmth down and let the meat ragu simmer slowly. Overheating received’t make it cook dinner sooner, it’ll simply dry out the meat and burn the underside!
• Season the water you employ to boil the pasta. Whichever pasta you select to serve together with your beef ragu, be sure you season the pasta water with salt earlier than you boil it. Properly-seasoned pasta is essential to a extra flavorful dish.
• Toss a small quantity of pasta water with the pasta and ragu. Don’t let that starchy water go to waste! Earlier than draining, put aside a cup of the pasta water. Add somewhat at a time whilst you toss the cooked pasta with the meat ragu. It is a good further step that emulsifies the sauce, making it cling to the pasta whereas including taste.
• In case you simmer the ragu for longer, it’s possible you’ll want so as to add somewhat rooster inventory or beef broth if the meat sauce turns into too thick after some time.
• Use shredded beef. Shredded beef works splendidly rather than floor beef in ragu. On this case, I like to recommend a minimize like a chuck roast, minimize into quarters. You’ll must sear/brown the meat after which simmer it within the tomato sauce for at the very least 2 hours till it’s cooked sufficient to shred. Another choice is to make use of leftover shredded beef, like the type utilized in my Sluggish Cooker Italian Beef Sandwiches, and add that to the tomato sauce on the finish.

Find out how to Retailer and Reheat Leftovers

• Refrigerate. When attainable, I like to recommend storing the sauce separate from the pasta for greatest outcomes. Leftover beef ragu retains for as much as 5 days within the fridge. Enable the sauce to utterly cool earlier than transferring it to an hermetic container for storage. It tastes even higher within the following days!
• Reheat. Heat this beef ragu within the microwave or in a pot on the range till it’s scorching once more, then toss it with the pasta of your alternative.
• Freeze. Ragu freezes properly! As soon as cooled, retailer the sauce in a freezer-safe container and freeze it for as much as 3 months. Thaw the ragu within the fridge earlier than reheating and serving.

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