choose-your-adventure beef ragu
inspired by marcella hazan's classic tomato sauce
Are you familiar with Marcella Hazan’s legendary tomato sauce? The one where you simmer canned tomatoes with a halved onion and a stick of butter and somehow it transforms into the most delicious thing you’ve ever tasted? This recipe is inspired by that genius simplicity, but instead of butter, we’re using beef tallow, AKA beef fat. Stay with me.
We’re nestling two pounds of chuck roast right in with the tomatoes and onion (we’re also adding fennel — I absolutely love the subtle sweetness that roasted fennel brings!). As the meat braises, all that gorgeous fat renders out and does exactly what the butter would do — makes the sauce silky and rich.
Marcella discards the onion at the end, but we’re going to blend the fennel and onion right into the sauce using an immersion blender. If that sounds too complicated for tonight — or if you don’t own a stick blender — simply remove and discard them and use a whisk to combine the beef fat into the tomatoes. But it might be time for you to buy a stick blender? (I own this one and it rocks, but this one is 1/10th of the price and has 15,000 more 5-star reviews).
This is a set-it-and-forget-it kind of meal. It only requires about 10 minutes of actual work, then 2 to 2 1/2 hours of time in the oven. After going about your day, you’ll return to find fall-apart tender beef ready for you to shred and stir into a ragu that’s so good you’ll want to drink it from the bowl.
Once you’ve made your beef ragu, it’s up to you to decide what to do with it! In the following recipe, we’re providing instructions for how to:
Serve it straight up as a pasta sauce (serves 6 people).
Serve it over polenta (serves 6 people).
Make LASAGNA with it (serves 8 to 10 people)!! You’ve all been begging for a What To Cook-style lasagna and this one is about as time-hacking as it gets!
All three of these serving options are delicious (I couldn’t pick just one!), and I implore you to not forget about the other two after you’ve chosen your adventure for tonight. This is a three-for-one recipe, so be sure to come back and cook all iterations of it!
This harissa bolognese spaghetti squash bake has lasagna vibes but uses spaghetti squash instead of noodles. It’s veggie-packed comfort food at its finest, with tons of flavor thanks to the harissa. And for more slow-braised beef magic, try my short ribs and grits next!
Serves 6 to 10 (depending how you serve it)
