Dinner Tonight: Short Rib Ragu

As part of my blog facelift plan, I'm starting a 'Dinner Tonight' recipe post section. A few nights a week, I'll post what we had for dinner along with recipes and grocery tips. One of my recent goals has been learning to cook for two and it's actually been disturbingly successful both for our appetites, wallets, and waistlines.

Tonight's menu was Short Rib Ragu with Pappardelle. This recipe started in a popular cooking magazine that I get monthly but as usual I made some changes and doubled the vegetables. The former-jailbird proprieter of this magazine apparently hates to eat her veggies.

This dish is a favorite as it just gets better the longer it sits.

Short Rib Ragu for Two
 You will need: 1 slow cooker, 1.5-2 lbs of beef short ribs (about 3 ribs), 3-4 carrots, 3-4 ribs celery, 1/2 an onion, 2 minced cloves of garlic, a 28-oz can of diced or crushed tomatoes, and 1/2 pound of papardelle pasta.

In a heavy saucepan (the kind with sides), heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil until shimmering. Sear short ribs over medium heat, 2-3 minutes per side, until browned on all sides. Remove ribs to slow cooker.

While short ribs are searing, chop carrot, celery and onion in that order if you don't want everything to taste like onions. Place in pan when short ribs are removed. Cook until softened, 10-12 mins, stirring to deglaze. If they start to stick, reduce heat and deglaze with water or a splash of red wine. Add garlic at very end and stir in before adding tomatoes.

Add tomatoes to softened veggie mixture and cook 15 minutes, covered, over low heat. I sprinkle on a great Bouquet Garni herb mixture here from Penzy's Spices. You could use oregano and basil to your taste.

Once this mixture is hot, carefully pour over ribs in slow cooker. Cook on low 6 hours. Serve over cooked papardelle with parmesan cheese if you like it. Bon appetite!

(Notes: Short ribs can be hard to find. I had a grocery store 'butcher' once tell me that he only had boneless ones - that makes no sense. My local Market Basket seems to be the only place to carry them. Papardelle can be tricky to locate, too - I use Trader Joe's. Chris and I share a mutual hatred of all things onion. If you like onions, feel free to use a whole one. I've used crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and jarred tomato sauce in this recipe - all worked. The only thing that didn't work was whole tomates and even that wasn't bad when you smooshed them up. I like to make this the night before and refrigerate it overnight in my slow cooker insert, then fire it up before I leave for work in the morning. This recipe is borderline unsinkable and delicious!)