Easy Rustic Oxtail Bolognese Ragu Pasta

This dish came about by my craving for having a delish bowl of spaghetti bolognese. Pressed for time and to be honest, quite lazy to head to the grocery store, I rummaged through my fridge and freezer to see what i could make. Imagine my excitement when I saw oxtail, whole stewed tomatoes, carrots and celery. Although a bit disappointed for not being able to find red wine, I lucked out and saw a can of guinness beer. SCORE! 😀

This dish is rich and full of flavour. It is a stew of sorts, but i decided to make this easy by adding everything in one pot. A pressure cooker to be exact. Something that most kitchens have but is very under utilised. So here goes…. Whip out your pressure cooker and let’s get cooking 🙂

These are what you will need.

First step:

Place oxtail in a sauce pot and cover with cold water. Place on the stove over medium high heat and bring to a boil until you see the scum floats to the top. Drain the oxtail and wash with cold water. Set aside. This procedure can be done in advance and left covered in the fridge until ready to stew.

In the pot of your pressure cooker, heat some olive oil and cook Italian sausage (this is optional if you don’t have any. You can also substitute bacon as well). Once sausage has slightly browned, add in the trifecta of Italian cuisine. The Mirepoix. This is a combination of flavourful root veggies such as, carrots, onions and celery. Add salt and pepper and let this mixture sweat for about 5 minutes. Add in the thyme and bay leaf, whole stewed tomatoes, beef broth and oxtail. Make sure that there is plenty liquid to cover the oxtail. Cook this for about 30-45 minutes. Test the meat for the right fall of the bone doneness. If the meat is still tough, place pressure cooker on top of the stove and cook for another 30-40 minutes.

Please read proper way of using a pressure cooker safely.

Using a pressure cooker safely:

Place meat with lots of liquid in the pot making sure to cover the meat. Cover it with the lid, making sure that it is locked and the pressure gauge is placed on top.  Place cooker on the stove over medium high heat. Once you hear the pressure being released, start the timer and cook until desired time and tenderness.

When you are ready to remove the meat from the cooker, gently lift pot into the sink and place running water over the pot without  opening the lid

*** Please DO NOT open the lid of the pressure cooker until the gauge on top is easily removed when pulled. This can be very dangerous and can cause major burns.

Ok… back to the post. 🙂

Once the oxtail is falling off the bone, remove them and begin to scrape off the meat from the bones. Discard bones and place the meat back into the pot and simmer until sauce for about 8-10 minutes.

Add the heavy cream and simmer for another 5-8 minutes.

Toss in your pasta of choice and serve.

ENJOY!

**Pria’s tip:

What I like to do is place the meat sauce in a sauté pan and heat until bubbly. Add pasta of choice and toss until coated. Add parmesan cheese and parsley and mix to combine. Serve. 😀  This is perfect for the leftovers as well 😉 For leftover sauce, you may thin sauce with some water.

Easy Rustic Oxtail Bolognese Ragu Pasta:

2          pcs                  carrots, chopped

2          pcs                  celery stalks, chopped

2          medium          onions, chopped

5          cloves,             garlic, chopped

2          pcs                  bay leaves

3-4      pcs                  fresh thyme

1          large can        whole stewed tomatoes

1          kilo                  oxtail, trimmed and rinsed

200     grams             Italian sausage, casing removed

1          can                  Guinness Beer

½        cup                  heavy cream (optional)

¼         cup                  parmesan cheese and more for garnish

            for garnish     parsley

            to taste           salt and pepper

 

Food nourishes the body as God’s Word nourishes the soul.