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Slow-Cooked Short Rib Ragù with Pasta
At Tenuta Nonno Luigi, a restaurant in the town of Bellosguardo in Italy’s Campania region, chef Giuseppe Croce taught us how he makes ragù cilentano, a unique dish not well known outside of the area. The tomato-centric sauce gets its intense flavor and thick, lush consistency from multi-hour cooking (six hours, in the case of Croce’s ragù) with various types of meat—traditionally only small amounts of scraps, he explained—that melt into and merge with the tomatoes as the ingredients slowly concentrate. To adapt his recipe, we limited the meats to two: pancetta for its salty, porky flavor and short ribs that lend deep, beefy richness. We also use tomatoes in two forms: sweet-tart canned whole tomatoes and tomato paste for depth and umami. For convenience as well as steady, even cooking, we simmer the sauce in the oven so no careful monitoring is needed. The ragù pairs especially well with sturdy, thick, chewy pasta shapes such as cavatelli or orecchiette. The finished sauce can be cooled and stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to five days; rewarm it in a covered saucepan over medium before tossing it with just-cooked pasta.
6
Servings
Don’t add more salt and pepper at the start of cooking than the recipe calls for. As the ingredients reduce, the flavors become concentrated. It’s best to adjust seasoning at the very end, after the ragù has been tossed with the pasta. When the sauce is done, don’t skim off all of the fat that rises to the surface; a little fat delivers flavor and pasta-coating silkiness.
3¼ hours
40 minutes active
Ingredients
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1
tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
-
4
ounces pancetta, chopped
Directions
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01Heat the oven to 350°F with a rack in the lower-middle position. In a Dutch oven over medium, combine the oil, pancetta and onion. Cook over medium, stirring occasionally, until the onion is lightly browned, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, until it starts to darken and stick to the bottom of the pot, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the wine and cook, scraping up any browned bits, until reduced by half, about 1 minute. Stir in the beef, tomatoes with juices, ½ cup water, ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer over medium-high, cover, transfer to the oven and cook for 2 hours.