Neapolitan Style Short Rib & Caramelized Onion Ragu

It doesn't look all that special honestly

Here’s another meat sauce that takes a while to make, is it worth the wait?

Time: 4 hours 10 minutes

Difficulty: 1/5

Ingredient Availability: 5/5

A while ago, I went to a restaurant and had a short rib pasta dish that I’ll never forget. It was so good that I went back on a special occasion, hoping that it was still on the menu. Unfortunately, it wasn’t anymore. When I came across this recipe in Italian American, not only did it remind me of that dish removed from the menu, but it also just looked good. Looks are a pretty big farce in choosing recipes. I noticed that it took a couple hours to make, but the last few sauces I’ve made from this cook book were pretty worth the wait, so I went ahead and decided to make it.

Key Ingredients and Omissions:

I bought bone in short ribs, but use boneless if you can find them

There aren’t really that many ingredients in this recipe. I didn’t leave anything out. I decided to pair this sauce with some ziti, which is a fairly common pasta. Really, there isn’t anything very special about the ingredients.

Tools:

• Two large pots or dutch ovens

Cooking Review:

Prep: 40 Minutes

To prep for this recipe, I spent most of my time slicing the onions and celery, which an get pretty difficulty if your eyes are particularly sensitive. After slicing the onions, I removed the bones from my short ribs and cut them into cubes.

Caramelized onions: 48 Minutes

To make the caramelized onions, I heated oil in one of my pots before adding the vegetables along with some salt and pepper. After about 5 minutes at high heat, the heat was reduced to medium and I let the onions cook for another 40 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. The onions should be pretty dark and reduced at this point. This took about half the time the recipe called for.

Short Rib Sauce: 3 hours

Before heating more olive oil in my second large pot, I salted and peppered the short ribs. I then seared the ribs in the pot in two batches for about 5 minutes per batch. The wine was then added and reduced for 4 minutes before the chicken broth was added and brought to a boil. Once at a boil, a lid was put on the pot, slightly cracked, and the heat was reduced to a simmer. After about 2 and a half hours, the beef was very tender, but was’t dark brown as the recipe said it would be. It had reduced a pretty good amount, though, so I moved on. I added the caramelized onions and let it simmer for another 15 or so minutes before stirring in the lemon juice, cheese, and butter that I had prepared during the simmer. I also had some pasta cooking during the last part of the simmer, which was stirred in finally.

Analysis:

This dish is very flavorful and I think it’s seasoned perfectly. The beef is extremely tender, nearly melting in my mouth, and also has a very beefy flavor. Further, the overall flavor profile is fairly deep and complex. The savoriness from the caramelized onions and beef is the main flavor, but there is also some sweetness, also from the onions. Taking into account the simplicity of the ingredients and recipe overall, the flavors are very impressive. I’m giving this recipe a 10/10. Although it takes a while to come together, it’s well worth it.