Short Rib Pasta

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This short rib pasta recipe is made with braised bone-in beef short ribs, pasta, veggies, and crushed tomatoes. It cooks low and slow, but it's a hearty, stick-to-your-ribs meal that's pretty easy to put together!

Prep Time30

Cook Time2 30

Total Time3

Course: Entree

Cuisine: Italian

Servings:

Author: Julie Maestre

Ingredients

3 lbs bone-in beef short ribs
1 lb pappardelle pasta
1 medium yellow onion finely diced
1 large carrot finely diced
1 celery rib finely diced
7 cloves garlic finely minced
1 cup dry red wine
1 ¾ cup beef broth
28 oz can crushed tomatoes San Marzano preferred, or whole tomatoes that have been hand crushed or pulsed with a hand blender.
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
2 bay leaves
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
oil, for searing short ribs
parmesan cheese to taste
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Season short ribs with salt and pepper.
Heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add about 4 tablespoons of oil and sear the short ribs for 3-4 minutes then turn and sear each edge for another 1-2 minutes/edge. Be sure not to overcrowd the pan, sear in batches and add more oil if necessary.
Remove the short ribs to a plate and set aside.
Add the diced onion, carrot, and celery to the Dutch oven and sauté until the veggies have softened, about 3-4 minutes. I find the moisture from the vegetables is usually enough to start deglazing the bottom of the Dutch oven. So, if that is the case you can begin scraping up brown bits from the bottom of the pan while stirring the veggies.
Add in the garlic and tomato paste cook for one more minute.
Add in the wine and continue cooking for 3-4 minutes with occasional stirring to allow the wine to reduce. If there are still brown bits from the seared meat and veggies on the bottom of the Dutch oven, the wine will help to deglaze the pan be sure to scrape up all the last remnants.
Add in the beef broth, crushed tomatoes, bay leaves, oregano, and Italian seasoning.
Bring to a boil then nestle the short ribs into the sauce. Lower the heat, cover the pot, and simmer for 2 hours checking on it every 30 minutes to give it a stir so that nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot.
Discard the bay leaves, remove the short ribs and shred the meat. You can remove a lot of the fat layer that will have settled on the top of the sauce with a spoon. Discard the bones and return the shredded meat to the Dutch oven and continue simmering for 15 minutes with the lid off to help thicken the sauce. Check for seasoning and add salt and pepper if needed.
Stir in the cooked pasta and check for seasoning one final time right before serving. Serve with fresh parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Notes

When searing meat, you want to add it to a hot pan with oil. The meat will “stick” until it has seared at which point it will release from the pan much more easily. Getting a good brown crust on the edges helps build flavor in the sauce. If you overcrowd the pan, the moisture from the meat begins to sweat and you end up steaming the meat and you won't get a good flavorful brown crust.

Retain pasta water just in case. The water the pasta was cooked in is like liquid gold, it can be added to the sauce if it needs thinning, and its starchy content helps the sauce cling better to the pasta. You may not need it, and you can always discard it later, but you can’t get it back once it goes down the drain.

Pappardelle is a thick hearty pasta that pairs well with a hearty sauce. But if you can’t find it, you could also use tagliatelle, or large tube shapes like tortiglioni or rigatoni.

Make sure to check on the ribs and give them a stir every 30 minutes, so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot.

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