Description
A comforting slow cooker short rib ragu paired with wide, silky pappardelle pasta that delivers rich, complex flavors with minimal effort.
Ingredients
Scale
- 3–4 pounds bone-in beef short ribs
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 2 medium carrots, diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 28 ounces canned crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot)
- 1 cup beef broth
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 pound pappardelle pasta
- Optional: pinch of red pepper flakes
- Optional: freshly grated Parmesan and chopped parsley for serving
Instructions
- Pat the short ribs dry and season generously with salt and black pepper.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering.
- Sear the ribs in batches for 3-4 minutes per side until deeply browned. Transfer to slow cooker.
- In the same skillet, add diced onions, carrots, and celery; cook for 5-7 minutes until softened and starting to caramelize.
- Add minced garlic and cook for 1 minute until fragrant.
- Stir in tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes to darken slightly.
- Pour in red wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up brown bits; reduce wine by half (about 3 minutes).
- Pour vegetable and wine mixture over ribs in slow cooker.
- Add crushed tomatoes, beef broth, rosemary, thyme, and bay leaves; stir gently to combine.
- Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours until meat is fall-apart tender and sauce thickened.
- Remove ribs, shred meat with forks, discard bones and excess fat.
- Return shredded meat to sauce, stir to combine; season with salt and pepper to taste.
- If sauce is too thin, cook uncovered on high for 15-20 minutes to thicken.
- Bring large pot of salted water to boil; cook pappardelle according to package instructions until al dente (8-10 minutes).
- Drain pasta, reserving 1 cup pasta water.
- Toss pasta with ragu, adding reserved pasta water as needed to loosen sauce.
- Serve hot, topped with Parmesan and parsley if desired.
Notes
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 6 hours
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 serving
- Calories: 550
- Sugar: 5g
- Sodium: 600mg
- Fat: 22g
- Saturated Fat: 9g
- Unsaturated Fat: 10g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 42g
- Fiber: 3g
- Protein: 38g
- Cholesterol: 90mg
Keywords: Slow Cooker, Short Rib, Ragu, Pappardelle, Pasta