Penne With Braised Short Ribs Recipes

PENNE WITH BRAISED SHORT RIBS (OVEN OR SLOW COOKER)

Steps:

• Place an oven rack in the lower 1/3 of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Season the ribs with salt and pepper. In a large heavy-bottomed Dutch oven or ovenproof stock pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. In batches, add the ribs and brown on all sides, about 8 to 10 minutes. Remove the ribs and set aside.
• Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes.
• Add the tomatoes, wine and mustard. Bring the mixture to a boil and scrape up the brown bits that cling to the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Return the ribs to the pan (or add to crock pot).
• Add the beef broth, cover the pan and place in the oven for 2 1/2 hours until the meat is fork-tender and falls easily from the bone.
• Remove the ribs from the cooking liquid. Using a large spoon, remove any excess fat from the surface of the cooking liquid. Using a ladle, transfer the cooking liquid in the bowl of a food processor (or use a stick blender). Process until the mixture is smooth. At this point I added mushroom slices.
• Pour the sauce into a saucepan and keep warm over low heat.
• Remove the meat from the bones. Discard the bones. Using 2 forks, shred the meat into small pieces. Stir the shredded meat into the sauce. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the pasta and place in a large serving bowl.
• Using a slotted spoon, remove the meat from the sauce and add to the pasta. Pour 1 cup of the sauce over the pasta. Toss well and thin out the pasta with more sauce, if needed. Sprinkle the pasta with Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley before serving.
• Notes: I decided to serve over mashed potatoes and omit the parmesan cheese. I also added sliced crimini mushrooms, white mushrooms will work too.

SLOW COOKED BEEF SHORT RIBS SAUCE

Steps:

• Brown the short ribs: Season short ribs liberally with salt and pepper. You'll need about two teaspoons,
• Heat a large Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot to a medium-high heat. Add olive oil. As soon as the oil is shimmering hot, add in the ribs.
• Cook the ribs in batches so they're not crowded. Should take about 4 minutes per side to get the nice and brown color. If there is a lot of drippings, remove some and leave about 2 tablespoons in the pot.
• Cook the veggies: Add in the onions, carrots, and celery. Season with a teaspoon of salt and some black pepper (if you like). Cook until the onion is translucent.
• Herbs: Add in the herbs and bay leaves (I usually have some fresh rosemary and sage on hand or even dried rosemary and sage. You could use just rosemary if that's all you have on hand).
• Deglaze: Add in the red wine (if you're using). If you don't have any wine on hand, you could add a cup of beef broth. Turn the heat to medium-high. Use your wooden spoon to stir and scrape any brown bits from the bottom of the pan. Let it cook until most of the wine has cooked down with the brown bits and the onion mixture.
• Sauce: Now is the time to add in the tomato sauce. Use your wooden spoon to carefully stir it around the ribs. Lower the heat to medium-low to let it slowly simmer. I usually make this with strained tomatoes in a glass jar. I pour in the sauce and then add water to fill about 1/2-3/4 full in bottle and shake it to get the sauce that's on the bottom of the jar. I add that watery tomato sauce to the pot and stir together.
• Simmer: In a large pot (or Dutch oven), the rib sauce will cook for 3-4 hours (or longer) until the ribs pulls away from the bones and are very tender. Check the sauce, stirring occasionally, and add a little bit more water if it's thickening too much. Every oven is different. If the temperature is too low and it's not simmering, raise the temperature a little. Keep checking on the sauce and stirring, raising the heat a little, until it gets to a nice simmer.
• Finish the rib sauce: Remove the pot from the burner and place the pot on top of the counter on top of something to protect your counter from the hot bottom of the pan. Remove herbs and the bay leaves. Use tongs or a large metal spoon to remove the ribs. Depending on long you cooked the sauce, the meat may have already removed from the bone. In any case, remove all the bones and the meat.
• Place the meat on a cutting board and use a fork and knife or two forks to shred it into bite-sized pieces.
• Place the rib bites back into the pot with the sauce.
• Cook the pasta: If you're serving with pasta, cook the pasta according to directions on the box. Drain the pasta a little bit before al dente, and place the pasta in a large skillet with the sauce. Stir it to combine and add a drizzle of olive oil. Serve with grated Parmigiano Reggiano or pecorino.

GARLIC BRAISED SHORT RIBS WITH RED WINE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 275 degrees. Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season short ribs on all sides with salt and pepper. Working in batches, sear short ribs on all sides until deeply and evenly browned, 6 to 8 minutes per batch. Transfer browned short ribs to a large plate and continue with remaining ribs.
• Pour off all but 2 tablespoons of remaining fat, leaving the good browned bits behind. Reduce heat to medium, and add garlic, cut side down and cook, undisturbed, until golden brown, about 1 to 2 minutes. Add onion, celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat and continue to cook until vegetables are softened but not yet browned, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add tomato paste and stir to coat. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until tomato paste has started to caramelize a bit on the bottom and up the edges of the pot, about 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add red wine and, using a wooden spoon, scrape up any browned or caramelized bits. Let this simmer 2 to 3 minutes, just to take the edge off and reduce a bit. Stir in beef stock along with thyme. Using tongs, return short ribs to the pot, along with any juices that have accumulated, nestling them in there so that they are submerged (if they are just barely covered, nestle them bone side up so that all the meat is submerged, adding more beef stock or water as necessary to cover). Bring to a simmer, then cover and transfer to oven.
• Cook, undisturbed, until short ribs are meltingly tender and falling off the bone (you should be able to shred the meat with a fork), 3½ to 4 hours.
• Using tongs, remove the ribs from the pot, taking care (for presentation purposes, really) not to let the bone slip out and transfer them to a large plate. (While you could serve the short ribs right out of this pot, the vegetables have all given up their flavor and texture and aren't worth much now, so feel free to strain the sauce for easier eating.) Scatter parsley, chives and lemon zest over the top of the short ribs. Separate the fat from the sauce, season with salt and pepper and serve alongside.