Beef Shin Ragu

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The Italian word ‘Ragù’ more or less means a meaty sauce for pasta(Bolognese is a type of ragù). This beef shin version is a lovely way to make a rich, flavoursome sauce using a very economical cut. I like the way the meltingly tender chunks of meat add a great texture to the sauce too. The sauce freezes well so it’s easy to whip up a quick meal on a week night, or you can use the slow cooker for the ragù during the day and cook the pasta when you get home.

Prep: 15 mins

Cook: 3 hours

Serves 4-6

Low Fat

Low Sodium

Ingredients

Beef

800g Quality Mark beef shin
2 tablespoons butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 sticks celery, finely chopped
2 carrots, finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh oregano leaves, chopped (or use 2 teaspoons dried)
3 tablespoons tomato paste
2 anchovy fillets, chopped
1 cup red wine (or use extra stock)
2 cups Campbell’s Real Stock – No Added Salt Beef
1 bay leaf

To serve

Cooked pappardelle (or tagliatelle)
Fresh Parmesan, grated

Method

Preheat the oven to 150ºC.

Beef

Season the beef with a little salt and pepper. Heat a dash of oil in a large frying pan over a very high heat and sear the beef to brown all over (you may need to do this in two batches). Set the beef aside. Reduce the heat to medium, add the butter and another dash of oil to the pan and cook the onion, garlic, celery, carrot and oregano for about 7-10 minutes until the vegetables are soft. Add the tomato paste and anchovies and cook for another few minutes. Add the wine, turn up the heat and let it bubble for 30 seconds. Add the stock and the bay leaf. If your pan is ovenproof, add the beef and its juices back to the pan and cover with the lid or, transfer everything to a covered casserole dish.

Bake in the oven for 3 hours, stirring a couple of times to ensure the beef stays mostly covered with liquid.

To serve

Remove the meat with tongs and place on a clean board. Remove and discard the bones and pull the beef into chunks with two forks. If necessary, at this point you can simmer the sauce in a saucepan on the stovetop to reduce and thicken it. Add the meat back into the sauce, taste and season as required. Spoon the meat sauce onto the hot pasta and sprinkle with grated Parmesan and chopped parsley. Serve with a side of green salad.

Watch the Video

Suitable Cuts
Nutrition
Tips & Tricks

Nutrition Information Per Serving

Serving size: 450g

Energy kJ (kcal)	1980 (473)
Protein (g)	38.4
Fat (g)	14.0
Saturated (g)	6.1
Carbohydrate (g)	38.7
Sugars (g)	3.9
Sodium (mg)	351
Iron (mg)	5.3
Zinc (mg)	7.3
Vitamin B12 (ug)	3.1
Vitamin D (ug)	0.17
Selenium (ug)	13.3

This recipe is low in sugar while providing essential nutrients iron, zinc and selenium.

Slow cooker option: At the point when you have added the cooked beef and its juices back into the pan, transfer everything to a slow cooker and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8 hours.
Slow cooking is a great way to use some of the more economical cuts of beef and lamb. The slow cooking results in tender beef and lamb which is full of flavour.
It’s good to use a wide pasta like pappardelle for chunky sauces like this - if you can’t find it, you can buy fresh lasagne sheets and cut them into 2-3cm strips – bingo, homemade pappardelle! You can also use tagliatelle or fettuccine.
Using low salt stock reduces the sodium content of this dish.
As an alternative to pasta, try serving with potato or kumara mash or use as a pie filling.