Slow Cooked Beef Ragù with Rigatoni (Curtis Stone)

Winter - Hate or love it.

Hate it because there is no little sunshine and less blue sky. What I hate most about winter is the laundry. Nothing seems to dry in this cold and frosty weather. Our pile of laundry seems never-ending...

Love it because I love wearing my winter gum boots. I love jumping on rain puddles and fallen leaves without worrying that my feet are going to get cold and wet...

Love it because I love running in cold freezing mornings. I must admit that getting out of the house into the cold is really tough but dashing through cold winds feels sensational!

What I love most about winter is doing slow cooking for the family. Nothing beats relaxing in a warm house with this beautiful hearty meal after work. This recipe is from Coles with a video of Curtis Stone demonstrating how easy to cook this meal. After watching this video with my son, I was told that I have to cook this...

Our winter warmer - Slow Cooked Beef Ragù with Rigatoni

I usually prefer Fusilli than Rigatoni but used this pasta specially for this dish.

Not just beef... There are lots of vegetable in this dish.

Browning the beef first to seal its juice

Cook the vege and add all the liquid ingredients

This cooks on its own for 3-4 hrs. Now, I can do my winter laundry!

I like to cook this dish longer so that the beef is very tender.

Here's the recipe from Coles
(with my modification and notes in blue)
 
plain flour, for dusting
500g beef chuck casserole steak, cut into 2.5cm cubes
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 small brown onion finely chopped
(I used 2 small onions for double amount of this recipe)
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 sticks celery, cut into 1cm pieces
2 medium carrots, peeled, cut into 1cm pieces
1 sprig fresh thyme
2 x 400g cans whole peeled tomatoes
1 cup beef stock
1/2 cup water
(I didn't add this)
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
350g Rigatoni pasta
1/3 cup (30g) Parmesan cheese, finely grated
(I didn't add this)

Preheat oven to 170°C (150˚C fan forced).
 
Season the flour with salt and pepper. Combine beef with flour in a bowl and shake off excess.

Place a large heavy based ovenproof casserole dish over high heat then add 1 tbsp oil. Once the oil is hot, but not smoking, brown the beef on all sides, about 8 mins. Transfer the beef to a plate.

Reduce heat to medium-high and add remaining oil to pan. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 2-3 mins, stirring occasionally. Add the celery and carrots and cook for 3-4 mins until vegetables begin to brown.

Add the thyme. Stir in the tomatoes, stock, water and vinegar and cook for about 4 mins, until softened, breaking up with a wooden spoon.

Return the beef and any juices to the pan. Bring to the boil, then cover and transfer pan to the oven. Cook for 2 1/2 to 3 hrs or more until meat is very tender and sauce has reduced and is thick. Remove the thyme stem. Meanwhile cook the rigatoni according to packet directions just before the ragù is ready.

Add the rigatoni to the ragù and toss to combine thoroughly.

Spoon into 4 large serving bowls and garnish with the Parmesan cheese. I actually has a block Parmesan cheese but thought that this dish is flavoursome enough and the addition of cheese is not necessary

Happy Cooking
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