Red wine beef short ribs

Ready when a fork goes in with no resistance and the bone slides out clean. Not before.

Serves

4 people

Prep

20 minutes

Cook

3 hours

Buy the cut All recipes

From the shop

Start with 1 kg of short ribs. Beef spare ribs braise the same way and are done about 30 minutes sooner.

Skim the fat off the top of the sauce before serving. Short ribs give up a lot of it, and it sits on the surface once the pot comes out of the oven. A spoon does the job, or chill it overnight and lift the fat off in one piece.

Ingredients

• 1 kg beef short ribs
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 brown onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 250 ml red wine
• 500 ml beef stock
• 3 sprigs thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt and cracked black pepper

Method

1. Heat the oven to 160°C. Season the ribs well. Heat the oil in a heavy casserole pot over high heat. Brown the ribs on all sides, 8 minutes in total. Lift them onto a plate.
2. Turn the heat down to medium. Add the onion, carrot and celery. Cook for 6 minutes until soft.
3. Add the garlic and tomato paste. Cook for 1 minute.
4. Pour in the wine. Scrape the base of the pot. Simmer until the wine reduces by a third, about 4 minutes.
5. Add the stock, thyme and bay leaf. Return the ribs, bone side down. The liquid should come halfway up the meat.
6. Cover and put the pot in the oven for 3 hours, until the meat falls off the bone.
7. Lift out the ribs. Skim the fat from the sauce. Simmer the sauce on the stove for 5 minutes to thicken. Taste and season.

Serve it

Serve over creamy polenta or mashed potato with the sauce spooned over.