Slow Cooked Beef Ragu With Rigatoni

The whole house smells wonderful when this delicious slow cooked beef ragu is cooking.

Ingredients

All-purpose flour (about 1/2 cup for dusting the meat)
Salt
Pepper
1 lb stewing beef, cut into chunks (approximately  1″ sized pieces)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 stick celery, finely sliced
2 carrots, peeled and sliced
1 sprig fresh thyme
1 large can whole, peeled tomatoes (approx. 28 fl. oz / 800 ml)
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 cups beef stock
1/8 cup balsamic vinegar

rigatoni pasta (as much as is needed for your family)

fresh parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350C.
2. Put the flour in a bowl and season with salt and pepper.
3. Dust each piece of meat in the flour and shake off excess.  Place on a plate.
4. Heat a large pan over high heat and add 1 tbsp of oil.  Once the oil is hot, brown the meat on each side, for approximately 5 minutes.  Transfer to a plate.
5. Reduce heat to medium and add remaining oil, onion and garlic.  Cook for a couple of minutes.
6. Add the celery and carrots and cook for another three minutes.
7. Stir in the thyme,  tomatoes, tomato paste, worcestershire sauce, stock and vinegar and cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally.
8. Add the beef to the pan and bring to a boil.  If you are using an ovenproof pan, cover and transfer to the oven.  If you are not, transfer the mixture to an ovenproof pan, cover and place in the oven.
9. Cook for 2 1/2 – 3 hours until the meat is tender.
10. Prepare the rigatoni according to the instructions on the package.
11. Remove the thyme stem from the ragu and break up the mixture with a wooden spoon or fork, so the meat is shredded.
12. Add the rigatoni to the ragu and combine gently.
13. Serve in bowls and garnish with parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!