Pasta at its finest

I love to cook for my family and I love to find new and amazing things that we all enjoy. I have this amazing cookbook that I would recommend to anyone and everyone, The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. Not only is it filled with awesome recipes it has all kinds of tips in it and tells you why you are doing some of the things your doing. It help a person who doesn't know everything there is to know about cooking know just a bit more to make their cooking amazing as well.

 

 

 

So this last week I made Meat Ragu, I wasn't sure if we would like but it didn't call for many ingredients and it seemed pretty easy to make so I was all for trying it. Well to our surprised we loved it all of us even the girls, it was light tasting and very rounded in flavor. Not only was it amazing the first time we ate it but it reheated and tasted just as good if not better! This is a good plus because I love to have meals that make enough for leftovers night or for Roland to take to work and eat for lunch.

 

Well it's time to put up the recipe, and please don't the length of time it takes to make it scare you. It really doesn't take much and it's such a great tasting meal not to take the time to make.

 

 

Long-Cooked Meat Ragu

• 1 1/2 pounds beef short ribs, trimmed
• salt and pepper
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, minced
• 1/2 cup dry red wine
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes

1. Pat the ribs dry, then season with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown the ribs, about 10 minutes, then transfer to a plate. Pour off all but 1 Tbsp of the fat in the skillet.

2. Add the onion to the skillet and cook over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in wine and simmer, scraping up any browned bits, until the wine has reduced to a glaze, about 2 minutes.

3. Return the browned ribs and any accumulated juices to the skillet. Stir in the tomatoes with their juices and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer gently, turning the ribs several times, until the meat is very tender and falling off the bones, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

4. Using a slotted spoon, remove the ribs from the sauce and let cool. Shred the meat, discarding the fat and bones. Return the shredded meat to the sauce and continue to simmer over medium heat, uncovered, until the meat is heated through and the sauce is slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

I tossed this sauce with 1lb of penne pasta but rigatoni or ziti can be used as well. If the sauce is to thick use some of the pasta cooking water to loosen the consistency.

Sauce can be made ahead and refrigerated for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 2 months. Also pork spareribs or country-style ribs can be substituted for the beef short ribs. (I used the beef short ribs, so yummy.)

 

I really hope that anyone who makes this thinks it is just as yummy as my family and I did!

 

 Enjoy!