Adapted from Jamie Oliver’s Beef Ragu (NYT)

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds boneless beef chuck roast
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Fresh Herbs – Rosemary, Sage, Oregano, Thyme all work well. ~2-3 sprigs each.
• 1 red onion, peeled and cut in chunks
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and thickly sliced
• 3 celery stalks, thickly sliced
• 2 cups Chianti
• 28-ounce can whole San Marzano tomatoes
• 16 oz Beef broth
• 1 pound pasta – I like Fusilli
• ½ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• Orange zest (optional)

Preparation:

Total time: 3 hours
Active time: 45-60 minutes

First, a few notes about my approach to the preparation.

• I cut smaller beef pieces, ~1″ x 1″ x ½”.
• I form a deep brown crust on the beef, borderline overcooked. I think it is OK to do this because the beef will be cooked in sauce for over an hour and will not taste overly dry when served with the sauce.
• I like to multitask to speed up prep in the dish. I cut the beef first, then start the browning process. While it’s browning, I cut all the vegetables. After the vegetables are cut, I measure out the wine and mash the tomatoes.
• I use cheesecloth and twine for the herbs, so it’s easy to remove later.
• While in the simmering process, there are two steps where you simmer uncovered and simmer covered. In my experience, simmering uncovered concentrates the sauce and cooks out some of the fat in the beef. Simmering covered makes the meat tenderize a bit more and gives it the fall apart in your mouth texture. From my tests, you need a bit of both and you can taste beef throughout the process to get texture just right.

Recipe

1. Cut beef chuck into ~2-inch cubes.
2. Warm pot over medium heat. When pot is warm, add olive oil to coat base of pot.
3. Season beef with salt and pepper.
4. Brown beef in pot on both sides. Brown in batches to avoid steaming the beef.



5. While browning the beef, cut up and prepare the vegetables and herbs.





6. Remove browned beef to a bowl, let sit.



7. After all beef has been browned, add in all the cut veggies to the pot.





8. Sweat the vegetables in the pan. I like to add a little salt to expedite the process.



9. Deglaze the pan with the sweat from the vegetables. Stir until there are no brown bits in the bottom of the pan (or very few).



10. Once you’ve completed the deglaze, add the wine and herbs into the pot and turn up the heat.





11. While the wine is evaporating, remove the tomatoes from the can. Place the tomatoes into a bowl and crush the tomatoes in your hands, removing any stems or rigid pieces of the tomato.
12. Evaporate until you can no longer smell the alcohol, or until about half of the liquid has evaporated. When the wine has sufficiently evaporated, add the tomatoes, broth, and beef into the pot. Reduce heat to medium-low for a slow simmer.





13. Allow to simmer, uncovered, for ~1-1.5 hours. Check liquid level regularly and add water (or broth) as needed to keep from drying out.
14. Place cover on pan and simmer covered for 0.5-1 hours.
15. When the simmering is about done, fire up a pot of water to cook the pasta. Cook the pasta to your preference, drain, and serve with the ragu
16. Use the parmiggiano reggiano as the cheese garnish. If you’re feeling adventurous, try out orange zest as a garnish – it’s an interesting experience!