Gnocchi with Short Rib RaguPrint Recipe

I know this is hardly a Spring dish but I just thought I would get in one last cool weather comfort meal before we are suffocated in the insane heat and humidity that Summer (and Spring) can bring to a big city. Or should I say has already bought – because when I made this yesterday, my kitchen was like a sauna – but I guess that’s what 6 hours of braising will do to a small confined space.

Anyhoo, today being slightly cooler we did actually enjoy this very comforting and robustly flavoured dish. The meat was as tender as can be and perfectly matched with the wonderfully plain potato gnocchi – which unfortunately wasn’t handmade but next time it will be.

As with any marinated and slow braised dish – the flavours intensify over time, so I chose to settle the dish in the fridge after it was cooked for another night before removing the meat from the bone. This also made it easier to degrease the sauce.

So if you are planning a night in and the weather is on the cool side then you might wish to start this sooner rather than later. Before you know it, the weekend will be upon us and with all that running around that can eventuate it would be nice to have something on hand. Then it would simply be a matter of cooking your gnocchi, opening a gutsy bottle of red and sitting back to enjoy.

*this recipe will need to be started at least a day in advance*

Ingredients
4 beef short ribs (about 400 grams/14 ounces each)
500 mls red wine
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1 each carrot and celery stalk, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 litres (8 cups) beef stock
800 grams/1.76 pounds canned whole tomatoes
4 rosemary sprigs
1 fresh bay leaf
To serve: grated pecorino or parmesan and finely chopped parsley
To serve: 2 pounds fresh gnocchi

Place beef ribs in a single layer in a non-reactive container that fits ribs snugly, add wine, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 150c/300f. Heat oil in a casserole over medium heat, remove ribs from wine (reserve 250mls), pat dry on absorbent paper and cook, turning occasionally, until browned (5-7 minutes). Remove ribs and set aside, reduce heat to low, add vegetables and tomato paste and stir occasionally until tender (12-15 minutes). Add reserved red wine and cook until reduced by half, scraping residue as you go, then add half the stock, one cup at a time, reducing by half after each addition. Add tomato, rosemary, bay leaf, remaining stock and ribs, cover and roast in the oven, turning ribs occasionally, until meat is falling from the bone (4-6 hours).

Remove the dish from the oven and allow to cool. Remove the meat from the liquid and coarsely shred with a fork (discard bones and rosemary stalks).

Remove as much fat as you can from the top of the liquid and set aside 3 cups (discarding the remainder). Strain the reserved liquid and then simmer over a medium heat till reduced by half. Add the pulled meat, season to taste and serve tossed with gnocchi and scattered with shaved or grated pecorino or parmesan and a little chopped parsley.

Notes: If you do have the time (once the dish is removed from the oven and bought to room temperature) place it in the fridge overnight. This will allow the flavours to intensify further and also make it easy to degrease the liquid.

Source: adapted from Alice Storey for Australian Gourmet Traveller who adapted it from Paul Bertoli in Cooking by Hand

© 2011, Michelle. All rights reserved.