Italian Beef Ragu
A classic beef ragu that's easy and packed full of flavour using only a few simple ingredients it's perfect for lasagne, tossed with pasta, as a filling for ravioli and cannelloni and so much more!
A classic beef ragu that's easy and packed full of flavour using only a few simple ingredients it's perfect for lasagne, tossed with pasta, as a filling for ravioli and cannelloni and so much more!
- Carbohydrate 2.8843 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 0.61656666690789 g
- Fiber 0.703000005483627 g
- Protein 0.342216666666667 g
- Saturated Fat 0.0919316666999748 g
- Serving Size 1 1 people (119g)
- Sodium 64.7702500000048 mg
- Sugar 2.18129999451637 g
- Trans Fat 0.0288191666731992 g
- Calories 18 calories
Step-by-step
- Finely chop the carrot, onion and celery and sweat the vegetables gently in a large frying pan with the olive oil. Once the vegetables are soft add the beef and pork mince and cook until browned.
- If there is a lot of excess fat in the pan, drain some out. Add the red wine and reduce by half. Once the wine has reduced by half add the passata and beef stock and a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Stir everything together and leave to simmer on a low heat for 2 and half hours. Add an extra 1 cup/230ml of water after one hour if the sauce has reduced too much.
Swapping beef stock for unsalted chicken stock fundamentally alters the sauce, yielding a lighter backbone that allows the sweet tomato passata to dominate the palate rather than heavy mineral notes. Finely mincing the carrot, onion, and celery ensures they melt entirely into the olive oil during the initial twenty minutes of gentle sweating, creating a uniform base rather than distinct vegetable pieces.
Assessing doneness relies strictly on visual and textural indicators instead of internal temperature probes, since slow-simmered ragu reaches readiness when the combined fats emulsify into the liquid and the meat fibers shred apart under slight pressure from a wooden spoon. Reducing the red wine by exactly half before introducing the tomatoes concentrates the grape sugars, eliminating raw alcohol harshness that would otherwise overpower the delicate pork mince.
Maintaining a steady, low simmer for the mandatory two and a half hours requires vigilant monitoring, necessitating an additional one cup of water at the sixty-minute mark if the liquid level drops too rapidly against the sides of the heavy frying pan. Skimming excess fat after the initial meat-browning phase prevents the final emulsion from breaking into an oily slick upon long cooking.
Storing this preparation in airtight containers within the refrigerator for up to four days actually improves the overall cohesion of flavors, while extended freezer storage safely maintains quality for three months. Reheating frozen portions requires gentle thawing overnight followed by a slow warm-up on the stove with a splash of water to restore the proper coating viscosity.
