Slow Cooker Beef Ragu (Pappardelle Sauce)

The proper Italian-American Sunday gravy.

Why you should cook this

Sunday gravy, the proper Italian-American version. A kilo and a half of beef chuck in five-centimetre pieces, browned hard in olive oil before anything else happens. Soffritto of finely diced onion, carrot, celery sweated low. Five cloves of garlic. Two tins of San Marzano tomatoes, a glass of red wine, fresh rosemary and thyme, a bay leaf, salt, pepper. Eight hours on low in the slow cooker. The result is shredded beef in a sauce so dark and dense the wooden spoon stands up in it.

Chuck steak, never mince. Mince crumbles. Chuck pulls. The whole point of a proper ragu is the silky shredded meat. Shred it with two forks in the sauce when it is done. Then transfer to a wide pan and simmer uncovered for fifteen to twenty minutes to reduce. Toss through fresh pappardelle (Pasta Emilia in Sydney, Cibo in Melbourne, or a decent supermarket fresh sheet pasta). A handful of pasta water. Parmigiano Reggiano grated over from a deli wedge, never the green tube. Open a Chianti Classico.

What to drink with it

A Sangiovese-based red (Chianti, Brunello), a Negroni Sbagliato, or a Boulevardier.

Notes from the kitchen

Chuck steak, not mince. The whole point of ragu is shredded slow-cooked beef, not browned mince. Two-stage cook for best flavour. Eight hours low for the meat, then 30 mins on stovetop to reduce.

The recipe

Slow Cooker Beef Ragu (Pappardelle Sauce)

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 8 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Total Time 9 hours hrs

Servings: 6 serves

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x?

• 1.5 kg chuck steak, in 5cm pieces
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 brown onion, diced
• 1 carrot, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 300 mL red wine
• 2 x 400g tins diced tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 2 sprigs fresh thyme
• 500 g fresh pappardelle
• 100 g parmesan, grated

Method

 

1. Brown beef in oil over high heat in batches. Tip into slow cooker.
2. Cook onion, carrot, celery in same pan 10 min. Add garlic 1 min. Tip in. Add wine to pan, boil 2 min. Pour in.
3. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper to cooker. Stir.
4. Cover. Cook low 8 hours (or high 5 hours).
5. Discard herb stems. Shred beef with two forks in the sauce. Tip into a wide pan, simmer uncovered 20 minutes to thicken.
6. Boil pappardelle. Drain reserving 1 cup of pasta water. Toss pasta with sauce, adding pasta water to loosen.
7. Top with parmesan. Serve immediately.

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