Oxtail Ragu

Chef's notes

This is an incredibly hardy and delicious meat sauce served over pasta. Oxtail’s center bone surrounded by meat and fat makes it prized for its intense flavors especially delivered when slow cooked. Gourmet chefs combine oxtail with a classic vegetable mirepoix, red wine, herbs and seasoning to extract incredibly rich au Jus for prime rib.

Rome has several notable restaurants located around its stockyards that are famous for their signature braised oxtail dish, their incredible “Coda alla Vaccinara”. The dish is noted for its complexities of flavors and the resulting tenderness of the oxtail.

Oxtail also makes a wonderful base for soups and stews.

However, a thick Oxtail Ragu served with substantial meaty pasta cooked al dente and sprinkled with abundant Pecorino Romano cheese is my favorite.

As the name certainly implies, oxtail was originally from oxen. Mostly from cows now, cow tails have inherited the oxtail name. Cows and oxen are both in the bovine family. Oxen are mostly raised for their strength to work on farms (they also can be moderately trained); cows for their meat and dairy.

To create the ragu, Oxtail pieces are trimmed, seasoned, dusted in flour and sautéed in olive oil from Peter’s Garlic Oil. A traditional battuta is sweated in the same pot. Oxtail is oven braised with the soffritto (name for cooked battuta), red wine, chicken stock, imported Italian tomatoes, herbs and seasoning. Once oxtails are oven braised until very tender they are removed, deboned and placed back in the broth. The pot is degreased and is simmered stove top until thickened into a rich Ragu sauce. It's served over pasta cooked al dente and topped with Pecorino Romano cheese. This is an amazing treat

This recipe starts with about 6 ½ to 7 pounds of oxtail. It may seem like a lot but each piece has part of a tail bone through their centers. Pieces, especially larger ones are surrounded with fat. Although there is a fair amount of waste, cost per pound is reasonable.

My recipe recommends using Peter’s Garlic Oil. Although you can substitute plain olive oil with sautéed minced garlic and Tuscany Seasoning. The dish will simply not be as good as it can. Use any leftover Peter’s garlic Oil as a dip for bread.

Dried rosemary, sage and kosher salt can be substituted for Tuscany seasoning.

Recipe will easily serve 8 to 0 hardy eaters. Leftover sauce freezes well.

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Ingredients

About 6 ½ to 7 pounds untrimmed beef oxtail
Tuscany seasoning (or rosemary, sage and kosher salt)

Peter’s Garlic oil (or plain olive oil and 2 minced garlic cloves)

¾ cups of olive oil
5 garlic cloves
Rosemary, Sage, salt, pinch red pepper flakes.

Salt and Pepper
Flour for dredging

Battuta

¾ cup finely chopped carrots
¾ cup finely chopped celery
¾ cup finely chopped onion

3 cups chicken stock
3 cup dry red wine
2 cans imported Italian tomatoes
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
Basil (Lucia always said “you can never add too much basil”)
Rigatoni or your favorite pasta
Pecorino Romano cheese

Instructions

Earlier in the day prepare Peter’s Garlic Oil. Place olive oil in a butter melting pot. Cut rough tips from each garlic clove. Do not remove skins. Slice each in half lengthwise and place in a butter melting pot. Add rosemary, sage and salt or Tuscany seasoning. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes. Pour in the olive oil.
Heat pot over medium heat until oil reaches a simmer. Lower heat to maintain a low simmer. Garlic oil is ready when garlic is lightly browned and becomes very soft like oven roasted garlic. Remove released skins.
Place about ½ cup of the flavored olive oil from Peter’s Garlic Oil in a large high rimmed frying pan that can also be placed directly in the oven for final cooking.
Trim larger pieces of fat and season oxtail with Tuscany seasoning or salt, dried rosemary and dried sage. Let them sit refrigerated for an hour or so. Dredge shanks in the flour. Brown them on all sides. Remove the shanks. Add the battuta, carrots, celery and onion to the pan. Sautee until softened, adding more garlic oil if needed. Add oxtail, pan roasted garlic from Peter’s garlic Oil, wine, chicken broth, red pepper flakes, contents of both cans of tomatoes and basil. If using whole canned tomatoes, squish them by hands first.
Cover the pot. When contents reach a boil, place in a 350° oven still covered. Periodically turn shanks over. Braise until oxtail meat begins to fall off the bone, in about 1½ to 2 hours. Remove pot from the oven. Mixture will be extremely hot. Very carefully use proper long handle utensils to remove oxtail to a platter. Skim pot to extract as much fat as possible.
When cooled to touch, shred oxtail meat and place back into the pot. Discard bones. Place the pot on the stove top and simmer uncovered while stirring frequently until the sauce reduces and thickens to a ragu. Check for seasoning.
Serve over rigatoni or your favorite hardy pasta cooked al dente. Top with Pecorino Romano cheese.

No items found.

Oxtail Ragu

Oxtail Ragu

Ingredients

Instructions

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