Winter Recipes: Episode 1
Braised Oxtail Ragu’
What is winter food? Winter food to me is hearty casseroles and warming stews. It is anything that gets slow cooked, roasted, or braised.
It is comfort food to keep you warm.
This is a pasta dish, but it is a winter pasta dish. What makes it a winter pasta dish? It is cooked low and slow. It has deep, rich flavors. Put this sauce over a hearty thick noodle like pappardelle for a maximum cozy dish.
So the question I get most often from my friends and family is:
“how do you have time to make all of these slow cooked meals?!”
Well, the answer is simple. It is planning. It is also knowing what meals freeze well and how to freeze them. This sauce does take a long time, but it makes enough for two meals. I freeze half of the sauce for a meal later in the month. I use deli containers. They are spill proof and best of all, they are cheap. Once you are done with dinner, let the sauce cool and fill up a quart container. Make sure you label and date the container. I just use a sharpie and write on the lid. This sauce is good for 3 months in the freezer.
I also “meal prep” on Sunday. This is not like the meal prep you see on ads. This past Sunday, I made Ragu, fresh pasta, homemade bread, vegetable soup and salad dressing. It took me about 8 hours but only 3 hours were active. This gave us a homemade meal on Sunday for dinner. I work late on Monday’s so we had vegetable beef soup with homemade bread that was ready to go. What we don’t eat of the soup we will freeze and eat later in the month. Tuesday we will have lemon pepper chicken tenderloins with a tossed salad and homemade dressing. Since Tuesdays dinner will take about 15-20 minutes to make, I’ll also marinate a pork tenderloin. Wednesday we will have ginger marinated pork tenderloin with Thai Brussels Spouts. Thursday we will have leftovers and Friday we have reservations for my Birthday Dinner! Dinner should be planned. It makes it easier to eat real food during the week.
So block off some time this weekend and make this Ragu! You will be thankful that you have a delicious meal AND a meal ready to go in the freezer. I love having freezer meals the week of a Holiday. It makes dinner so much easier but still delicious!
Lets get started cooking…
EDIT: To make gluten free: Use Gluten Free flour and serve over gluten free pasta or zucchini noodles.
Ingredients:
4-5 pounds of oxtails
1/4 cup All Purpose flour
2 teaspoons of ground pepper
2 tablespoons of kosher salt
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion chopped
2 large carrots chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 head of garlic
2 Tablespoons tomato paste
4 sprigs of thyme
4 sprigs of rosemary
1 750 ml bottle of dry red wine
1 28 ounces can of San Marzano tomatoes crushed
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
2 bay leaves
Directions:
1) Begin by placing your oxtail in a large bowl and dusting with flour, salt and pepper. Set aside.
2) Prep your vegetables. Chop your onion, carrot, and celery. Smash your garlic cloves. I used 5 large cloves. If you are sensitive to garlic use half.
3) Heat up oil in a heavy bottom pot and sear the oxtail in batches on all sides. This should take about 10 minutes.
4) To the same pot add your vegetables and the thyme and rosemary. Cook them on medium heat until soft and starting to brown on the edges. Add the tomato paste and cook for about 5 minutes to cook out the raw tomato taste.
5) Add the wine, crushed tomatoes, vinegar, honey, and bay leaves to the pot. Stir to combine and scrape up and brown bits; bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper and return oxtails to the pot. Pour in water to just cover the oxtails; bring to a gently simmer. Partially cover and cook at a bare simmer until the meat is falling off the bones about 3-3.5 hours.
6) Once the meat is falling off the bone remove the oxtails from the sauce and shred.
7) Boil the remaining sauce for 10 minutes until it has reduced and resembles a gravy.
8) Return the oxtail to the sauce and stir to combine. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
9) Serve over homemade pasta or your favorite hearty pasta.
This sauce just screams winter comfort food. The slow braise gives the sauce a deep rich flavor. This sauce will serve 8-10 people. It also freezes wonderfully. If you are looking for a slow cook meal for a cold winters night, this should be your go to.
