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Braised Beef Ragu is pure comfort food. Beef chuck is braised in a vegetable and tomato sauce until fork tender and shredded. Serve it over ziti or pappardelle pasta for a stick-to-your-ribs meal that your whole family will love.
My family prefers the ragu served over ziti. I like to serve this with a Prosciutto, Pear, And Blue Cheese appetizer, Spicy Italian-style Broccoli Rabe, and Italian Amaretti Peaches. It’s a meal that is requested over and over.
Even though the weather here in Florida is still as hot as can be, I’m already thinking about Fall and the hearty meals that accompany it. This recipe works well because the slow cooker does most of the work. Using a beef chuck roast cuts down on the cost of the meal, making it perfect to serve to a larger group. It also freezes beautifully, so make a batch and freeze some to serve later.
Bolognese is a type of ragu sauce. While very similar, they are different and not interchangeable. Here are some distinctions:
Chuck roast is in the shoulder area of the front legs. It doesn’t have much marbling, making it a tougher cut of meat. Despite being a lean, tough cut, it is still an intensely beefy, full-flavored cut. When cooked low and slow for hours, the beef becomes mouthwateringly tender while retaining its flavor.
Also called a shoulder roast, chuck pot roast, chuck eye roast, or chuck roll roast, it is found either bone-in or boneless. Boneless is usually a bit more expensive. If you can’t find a chuck roast, use a similarly shaped, lean cut of beef like a tri-tip roast, a top round roast, or a bottom or rump roast.
The tomato used for sauce is usually a paste tomato, including a Roma or a San Marzano tomato.
The Roma tomato is popular for its rich, tangy, and slightly sweet flavor. It’s robust, intense, with mild acidity. The Roma’s texture is firm, dense, meaty, and dry.
San Marzano tomatoes are considered the classic paste tomato. They have thick red skin, dense, meaty flesh with mild acidity and sweetness that lends well to basil and oregano. San Marzano tomatoes are meatier and less watery than the Roma.
Genuine San Marzano tomatoes are grown in the rich volcanic soil of Campania and processed according to very strict standards. In 1996, the Italian government gave San Marzano tomatoes an official DOP – Denominazione d’Origine Protetta, a Protected Designation of Origin. This guarantees that a product was grown and processed in a specific place.
Unfortunately, only 5% of the San Marzano canned tomatoes are authentic. So how do you distinguish the real from the counterfeits? There are a few things to look for:
Stovetop: Spoon the sauce into a saucepan over medium heat. Add about ⅛-¼ cup of broth, water, or milk to thin it out. Cook, stirring often to prevent sticking, until hot.
Microwave: Spoon the sauce into a microwave-safe bowl. Thin it out with ⅛-¼ cup of water, broth, or milk. Stir to combine. Microwave on high in 30-second intervals until hot, stirring after each interval.
Beef chuck is braised in a vegetable and tomato sauce until fork tender and shredded. Serve it over ziti or pappardelle pasta for a stick-to-your-ribs meal that your whole family will love.
4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
3 pounds chuck roast
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 pound bulk sweet Italian sausage
½ cup whole milk
1 large sweet onion, diced small
2 large carrots, peeled and diced into small pieces
2 stalks celery, diced
7–8 large garlic cloves, minced
1 cup dry red wine
2 cups beef stock
2 (28-ounce) cans of San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand
2 (6-ounce) cans of tomato paste
2 tablespoons granulated sugar (optional)
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 tablespoon dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried sage
½ teaspoon dried rosemary
1 parmesan rind (optional)
Pat the chuck roast dry with paper towels and sprinkle the salt and pepper over both sides of the roast.
Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil over high heat in a large skillet until shimmering.
Place the roast into the hot skillet and sear on all sides until a dark brown crust forms and the meat can be easily turned. If the meat sticks to the skillet, allow it to sear longer until it easily releases. This should take about 8 minutes in total.
Remove the roast to a cutting board.
Crumble the sausage into the hot skillet and cook, breaking up the meat with a spoon until no longer pink.
Pour the milk into the sausage and cook until the meat absorbs it-about 5 minutes. Scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the skillet as you stir the meat and sausage mixture.
Meanwhile, preheat a large slow cooker to low.
Chop the roast into thick chunks and add them to the slow cooker.
Spoon the sausage into the slow cooker with the beef.
Warm the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil in the same skillet over medium heat.
Saute the onion, celery, carrots, and garlic until the onions are translucent and the mixture is fragrant – about 7 minutes. Spoon the vegetables into the slow cooker.
Return the skillet to the heat and pour in the wine.
Stir, scraping up any browned bits until the wine boils.
Scrape the wine and browned bits into the slow cooker.
Add the remaining ingredients to the slow cooker.
Cover and cook the mixture on low for 8 hours, occasionally stirring to prevent sticking, and incorporate the ingredients.
Use a spoon to skim off any excess fat that rises to the surface.
When the meat is very tender, and the vegetables are softened, use two forks to shred the beef into the sauce.
Fish out the bay leaves and parmesan rind, if using. Discard.
To serve, cook pasta to al dente according to the package directions.
Spoon the sauce over the pasta and garnish with grated Parmesan cheese.
