13 Feb Wagyu Ragu Pasta Recipe

This cosy, delicious Wagyu Ragu with Pappardelle is on the menu this month at Blake’s Fine Foods! Beef is slow-cooked for hours with garlic, tomatoes, vegetables, and herbs before being shredded and heaped high over pappardelle with Parmesan cheese.

It’s bursting with juicy tomato and garlic taste, soft shredded beef swimming in a almost gravy-ish situation, everything spinning and swirling around huge wide chewy pappardelle.

Ingredients To Make Wagyu Ragu with Pappardelle Pasta:

• 1kg Purdon Wagyu Stewing Beef
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 large white onion – finely diced
• 2 large carrots – finely diced
• 2 stalks of celery – finely diced
• 3 cloves of garlic – minced
• 4 x anchovies – finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
• 2 x 400g tins chopped plum tomato
• ½ cups of bodied red wine
• 1 litre beef stock (2 x beef cubes) 
• 250g punnet of cherry tomatoes – halved 
• 3 x star aniseeds 
• 3 sprigs fresh thyme
• 3 sprigs fresh Oregano or dried 
• 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 3 bay leaves
• Salt and black pepper 
• 500g Egg Pappardelle Pasta 
• Serving Suggestions– freshly grated Parmesan and fresh flat leaf Parsley

Preparation:

• Season the meat with salt and pepper.
• Heat a large cast iron pot over medium-high heat. Add a good glug of olive oil and brown the meat in batches until a golden crust forms on all sides. 
• Repeat until all batches are sealed and set aside. 
• Add another glug of olive oil to the pan and sauté the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic until softened, about 3-4 minutes.
• Pour in the red wine and allow to simmer and reduce by half. 
• Next, add the browned meat back into the pot.
• Add the tomato paste along with the 2 x tins of diced tomatoes. Stir until the tomatoes are coating all the ingredients and allow the mixture to toast slightly bringing out its own natural sweetness.
• Pour in the beef stock, dried herbs, the herb bundle, salt & black pepper and bring to a simmer and cover with a lid.
• Allow to simmer for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Alternatively, if your pot is ovenproof, cook with lid on in a 180˚ oven for 3 hours or even yet in a pressure cooker on the meat setting for 60 min.
• Remove the herb bundle and wagyu chunks from the sugo (meat sauce).
• Lightly blitz the sugo (meat sauce) and continue to reduce to create a delicious textured gravy sauce. 
• Then while the sugo is reducing, carefully shred the wagyu meat so it becomes pulled beef.
• Add the cherry tomatoes and shredded wagyu to the sugo and combine.
• Allow the ragu to settle for ten minutes with the lid on so all the flavours infuse. 
• Garnish with freshly grated parmesan and fresh basil or Italian parsley. 

A tip from us to remember! Add half a cup of the starchy pasta water to the pan when combining all the elements at the end. It helps the sauce stick to the pasta and give it a beautiful sheen.

What to serve this with?

There are plenty of alternatives to fill out your table for this beauty, however it will be difficult for anybody to focus on anything else once these wonderful bowls of pasta are in front of them. You may serve this dish with a simple green salad or a roasted broccoli salad.

Blake’s Fine Foods only sells the finest Wagyu cuts. We strive to satisfy sophisticated tastes, therefore our selection of Wagyu will leave your mouth watering and your loved ones applauding. Contact us if you want to get the best locally produced Wagyu beef in Cape Town.