Beef Ragu

Beef Ragu is slow cooked beef with ingredients you can find in your pantry.

My father is the oldest son in his family. He has one older sister and twenty other siblings, my grandfather has had four wives in his lifetime, now only two remain. For my grandfather’s generation it is not uncommon to have more than one wife. Somehow they made it work. I could never share my husband! Needless to say I come from a big family, any family gatherings have lots of people. Catering for all these people is the duty of daughters-in-law. My mother has done it the longest being the oldest daughter-in-law in our family.

Whenever there is a big family gathering, one herd of cattle is slaughtered. Some of the meat is barbecued but most of it is stewed. My grandfather always insists that the meat should be well done otherwise people will not be able to eat it and it is thrown away. As I was making this ragu, I immediately thought how much he would appreciate this beef.

Beef ragu is slow cooked until you can pull it apart with forks. It is an Italian dish so it usually served with pasta but sadza, rice or sandwich will work too.

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Beef Ragu

Author Princess Tafadzwa

Ingredients

• 1 lb cubed stewing beef
• Salt and pepper
• 3 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• 1 onion diced
• 1 cup carrots diced
• 1 cup celery diced
• 28 oz crushed canned tomatoes
• 3 cups beef broth
• 3 dried bay leaves
• Extra salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Pat beef dry with a paper towel and sprinkle with salt and pepper
2. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over high heat in a heavy based pot. Add beef and brown on all sides, then place onto a plate.
3. Turn stove to medium low and add remaining olive oil.
4. Add onion and sauté for 2 minutes. Then add the carrots and celery and sauté slowly for 5 minutes. Add garlic.
5. Add remaining ingredients and return the beef to the pot (add the juices too). Turn the stove up and bring it to a simmer, then turn it down to low. Cover the pot and cook for 1 hr 45 minutes. Then remove the lid and let it cook for a further 30 minutes until the beef is tender enough to pull apart with forks and the liquid has reduced to be a thick sauce.
6. Adjust the seasoning to your taste with salt and pepper.
7. Turn the stove off and remove the beef from the sauce into a large bowl. Shred it coarsely with two forks. Then return it to the sauce. Place the lid on and set aside until ready to serve.