Source video by Joshua Weissman Recipes on YouTube. This recipe was adapted with strict source-fidelity rules and is marked for human review.
Joshua Weissman swaps beef mince for short rib and chuck in a long braise that he originally cooks in a 350F oven for three to three and a half hours. The sauce leans on a finely diced soffritto, two tablespoons of harissa alongside the tomato paste, charred grape tomatoes, dry red wine, beef stock and a splash of balsamic. We've moved the braise into the slow cooker after the meat is seared and the soffritto sweated, so the long, low cook does the tenderising while you get on with your day. Shred the meat back into the sauce, toss with pappardelle and a generous handful of Pecorino, finish with torn basil and a drizzle of balsamic.
Slow cooker notes: Source is an oven braise at 350F for 3 to 3.5 hours. The meat is still seared and the soffritto, tomato paste and harissa are still cooked off in a pan because slow cookers will not brown them; the wine, stock and balsamic deglaze the pan, then everything is tipped into the slow cooker with the seared beef and bouquet garni. Beef stock reduced from 2.5 cups (about 590ml) to 450ml because the slow cooker retains liquid that the oven would evaporate. Cook on Low 7 to 8 hours or High 4 hours, until the meat shreds with a spoon. Fresh basil and the final drizzle of balsamic are added at serving, not in the slow cooker. Pasta, Pecorino and pasta water are handled exactly as in the source.
Ingredients
- 3 largecarrots, very finely diced (brunoise)
- 4 ribscelery ribs, very finely diced
- 1 largeonion, fine dice
- 3 wholegarlic cloves, smashed and finely chopped
- 0.68 kgbone-in beef short rib
- 0.45 kgbeef chuck roast
- kosher salt
- black pepper, freshly cracked
- 3 tbsphigh heat cooking oil
- 0.45 kggrape tomatoes, charred and lightly peeled (fresh, or use canned peeled grape tomatoes)
- 2 tbsptomato paste
- 2 tbspharissa paste
- 480 mldry red wine
- 450 mlbeef stock
- 2 tbspbalsamic vinegar
- 15 sprigsfresh thyme, tied with the bay leaves into a small bundle
- 2 wholebay leaves
- 0.45 kgpappardelle pasta, cooked al dente in heavily salted water (add late)
- 180 mlreserved pasta water, ladled from the pasta pot before draining (add late)
- 80 gPecorino Romano, very finely grated on the fine star side of a box grater (add late)
- 1.5 cupsfresh basil leaves, lightly torn (add late)
- balsamic vinegar or balsamic reduction (add late)
Method
Finely dice the carrots, celery and onion to roughly the same small size (a brunoise). Smash, peel and finely chop the three garlic cloves. Keep the soffritto vegetables together and the garlic to one side.
~20 minChar the grape tomatoes with a blowtorch or under a hot grill until blackened in patches, then rub them in a paper towel to slip off the loose skins. Set aside. This step is optional but adds smokiness.
~8 minSeason the short rib and chuck generously with kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper on all sides. Heat two to three tablespoons of oil in a heavy pot over medium-high heat until almost smoking. Sear the beef in batches, about two minutes per side, until each piece has a deep brown crust. Two well browned sides per piece is enough. Lift the meat out and set aside.
~15 minReduce the heat to medium and add another tablespoon of oil if the pan looks dry. Tip in the carrot, celery, onion and garlic, season with a pinch of salt and stir for about two minutes until the soffritto starts to soften.
~4 minStir in the tomato paste and the harissa. Keep on medium heat and toast for one to two minutes until the mixture darkens to a deep red and starts to stick to the bottom of the pan.
~2 minAdd the charred tomatoes, lightly crushing them in your hand as they go in. Stir to combine, then turn the heat to high and pour in the red wine. Let it come to a hard boil for a minute, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan.
~4 minPour in the beef stock and the two tablespoons of balsamic vinegar. Bring back to a boil, then take the pan off the heat.
~3 minTransfer the sauce to the slow cooker. Nestle the seared beef into the sauce, short rib bone side down. Tie the thyme sprigs and bay leaves into a small bundle with kitchen twine and tuck the bouquet garni in among the meat.
~4 minCover and cook on Low for 7 to 8 hours or High for about 4 hours, until the meat is so tender it falls apart when you press it with a spoon.
~480 minFish out and discard the bouquet garni; the bay leaves especially must come out. Carefully lift the meat into a bowl, leaving as much vegetable and sauce in the slow cooker as you can. Discard any bones and the gelatinous membrane on the underside of the short rib.
~5 minShred the meat with two forks or a big spoon, pressing and twisting until the strands fall apart and bind with their own fat. Stir the shredded beef back into the sauce. If it looks too thick, loosen with a splash of extra beef stock, a tablespoon at a time. Taste and adjust salt and pepper.
~8 minBring a large pot of water to the boil and salt it heavily, almost as salty as the sea. Cook the pappardelle to al dente per the packet, reserving about half a cup to a cup of pasta water before draining.
~10 minReturn the drained pasta to its pot. Add half of the ragu per pound of pasta along with its juices, a handful of Pecorino, the torn basil leaves and a splash of the reserved pasta water. Toss carefully over low heat, adding more pasta water and Pecorino in turn until the sauce is glossy and coats every strand.
~4 minPlate the pasta. Spoon a little more ragu on top, finish with extra Pecorino, freshly cracked black pepper and a light drizzle of balsamic vinegar or balsamic reduction. Scatter a few more basil leaves over the top.
~3 min