Capellini al Ragu (aka Bolognesa)

Still on my beef trip, I had of course nearly 500g of BIO minced beef on my hands and had to do something about it. So I decided to make a Capellini al Ragu which usually goes well with the kids. And I think that I'm quite done with beef for this week, I'll move on to pork.

1 Red Onion (diced)
2 cloves Garlic (diced)
Celery stalk (diced)
Olive Oil
500g Minced Beef (seasoned with Salt and Pepper and hand-formed into round patties)
Herbes de Provence (sprinkled on the patties)

1 can chopped Tomatoes
1 Tsp Brown Sugar
200ml Beef Stock
100ml Red Wine
Basilic

Bay leaves
10 dried red Chillies (optional)

Frozen Green Peas and Baby Carrots

Grated Parmesan Cheese

Heat up a non-stick pan with a cover and add in some olive oil. Put the beef patties in to grill. When one side is nicely grilled, turn it over and add in the onions and garlic to brown. It is best if you could use beef for braising instead and then chop it up into small pieces at this stage (after grilling), but good quality minced beef will also do. If using beef for braising, the ragu will have to cook for at least 2 hours.

Add the celery.

In a saucepan, heat up a little olive oil and caramelize the brown sugar. Add in the tomato purée and chillies and stir well. Pour in the beef stock and the red wine. Simmer till sauce thickens.

In the 1st pan, use a wooden spoon to cut up the grilled beef patties (they should still be pink on the inside). Add in the peas and carrots. Pour the sauce into the pan and mix well. Serve hot on al dente pasta and with freshly-grated Parmesan Cheese.

When we live in Italy, I guess that I can then move on and do more complicated pasta dishes. Am getting pretty bored with the usual ragu, pesto, carbonara stuff.