Serves 8, Total Prep & Cooking Time 3.5 hours

This recipe is just insane. The combination of the slow cooked meat sauce with the pappardelle is heavenly – serve with some garlic ciabatta for the ultimate dish: I honestly don’t think I like any meal more! The perfect winter warmer batch-cooked meal or dinner party main event. Don’t be put off by the cooking time – most of this is simmering time, and you can busy yourselves doing other tasks as long as you check your pot every so often.

Ingredients:

1kg of beef shin or braising beef
1 onion
2 large carrots
3 celery sticks
2 cloves of garlic
Thyme
Bay leaves
2 tins of chopped tomatoes
2 beef stock cubes
1 cup red wine
1.5 cups water
600g dried pappardelle pasta
Optional: Fresh basil leaves & grated parmesan

Method:

1.       Dab the beef dry and season with salt and pepper
2.      Put 1 tsp of olive oil into a large pot and bring to a high heat
3. Slice the beef into baseball-sized chunks and place into the pot to brown – do not overfill the pot: if this means searing them separately then do so.
4. Once the meet is browned (around 2 minutes per side), remove and pop the diced onions and garlic in to simmer with the juices.
5.       Leave to simmer for 5 minutes then add diced celery and carrots. 
6.       After 5 more minutes, add the thyme, bay leaves, chopped tomatoes, stock cubes, red wine and water. Bring this to the boil then turn down to a simmer.
7.       Simmer for 2-3 hrs or until the beef is tender enough to pull-apart. Remove the beef and shred with two forks then place back in the pot to simmer for a further 20 mins. You can remove the bay leaves and thyme at this point
8.       Boil pasta to al dente in a separate pan. Once boiled, drain (but retain 1 cup of starchy pasta water) then add both the pasta & starchy water to the sauce mixture. Simmer for a further 3-5 minutes.
9.       Serve with a pinch of salt and pepper (fresh basil leaves and parmesan are optional too).