Serves 4 · 3½ hrs (30 mins hands-on) · Uses: 2 packs of our beef short ribs
The dish to make the day before. It only gets better overnight, and the sauce turns glossy and deep.
From the butchers
Short ribs are cut from between the flank and the brisket, and they're one of the cuts we get most excited about. They're well marbled and full of connective tissue, which is exactly what you want for a long, slow braise: over three hours it all melts into the sauce and leaves the meat rich and spoonable.
Ingredients
- 2 packs beef short ribs (4 x 300g)
- 2 tbsp plain flour, seasoned
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 onions, sliced
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 400ml full-bodied red wine
- 400ml beef stock (a pouch of our organic beef bone broth topped up with water works well)
- 2 star anise
- 3 wide strips of orange peel, plus the juice of 1 orange
- 2 bay leaves and a few sprigs of thyme
- 1 tbsp redcurrant jelly or dark brown sugar
To serve: soft polenta or buttery mash, plus a gremolata of chopped parsley, orange zest and a little garlic.
Method
- Heat the oven to 150°C (130°C fan). Dust the ribs in the seasoned flour and brown them well on all sides in the oil in a large casserole. Lift out.
- Soften the onions and carrots for 10 minutes, then add the garlic and tomato purée and cook for 2 minutes.
- Pour in the wine and bubble for 3 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pan. Add the stock, star anise, orange peel and juice, bay, thyme and jelly.
- Return the ribs, bone side up, so they are mostly submerged. Cover and cook in the oven for about 3 hours, until the meat is falling from the bone.
- Lift out the ribs. Skim the fat from the sauce and simmer it until glossy and reduced by about a third. Serve the ribs on the polenta with the sauce spooned over and the gremolata on top.
Allergens: gluten (flour). Check the wine and any serving accompaniments for sulphites and milk.
Thank you from the farmers and butchers.
