Shredded Short Ribs with Pappardelle

A little while ago, a box arrived in my mailbox that was filled with these.

Yes, bags of pappardelle from the Al Dente pasta company in Michigan.  They had emailed to me ask if I might be interested in trying out some of their pasta, and I am a girl who can't say no to pasta.  So I said yes please, and it happened to coincide with a Jamie Oliver recipe I had been dying to try for slow-cooked meat over, yes, pappardelle,  so the whole thing seemed like fate.

First the recipe.  It called for slow-cooking meat in a mixture of red wine, chopped carrots and celery and red onions and herbs, with some plum tomatoes and barley thrown in for good measure.  The interesting part of this was that the recipe gave you COMPLETELY free rein over whatever kind of meat you chose.   It suggested everything from venison to wild boar to squab to rabbit to beef.  

I can't cook venison.  Venison cavorts through my yard on a regular basis.  On one occasion, we had a baby that couldn't jump the stone wall at the end of our yard and get to its mama, so the Southern husband picked up up, wrapped it in a towel and deposited it on the other side of the fence so it could grow up and come back and eat up all my parsley.  But as a result, I can't cook venison.

Short ribs, on the other hand, I can cook.  (And this makes no sense at all, since I have met so many more cows during my life than deer.  Sorry cows.  It's completely unfair.)   So short ribs it was, cooked until they were tender and falling off the bone.  I then shredded the meat and returned it to the amazing sauce, and then tossed the whole thing with the pappardelle.

(By the way, this recipe calls for making a cartouche, and before you get worried, please click here.  It's super-easy, and then you can work into your next cocktail party conversation that you made a cartouche the other day.  It's the little things in life.)

On to the pappardelle.  It cooked up in no time and let me tell you - it was DELICIOUS - perfect consistency and flavor and just right with the shredded meat.  And while I used the regular flavor for this dish, it also comes in a whole raft of flavors, including garlic parsley, lemon chive and spinach.  Heaven, heaven, heaven.   If you are in need of some rocking great pappardelle (and trust me, you are), click here.  You won't be sorry.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go back to chasing the venison out of my yard.

Shredded Short Ribs with Pappardelle, from Jamie Oliver's recipe viathe fabulous Leite's Culinaria

• 28-ounces short ribs
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 handful each fresh rosemary and fresh thyme, stems discarded and leaves finely chopped
• 1 small red onion, peeled and finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 celery stick, finely chopped
• 2 wineglasses Chianti
• Two 14-ounce cans plum tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons pearl barley
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 14 ounces fresh or dried pappardelle
• 7 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 handfuls grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish

1. Season the meat with salt and pepper.   In a Dutch oven, fry your meat in a little olive oil until golden brown. Add your herbs, onions, garlic, carrot, and celery. Turn the heat down and continue to cook for 5 minutes, until the vegetables have softened.

2. Add your red wine and continue to simmer until the liquid has almost cooked away but left you with a fantastic color and fragrance.

3. Add the plum tomatoes, the pearl barley, and just enough water to cover the meat by 1/2 inch. Make yourself a cartouche of parchment or wax paper. Wet it with a little water, rub it with a little olive oil, and place it over the pan. Put a lid on the pan as well, as this will retain as much moisture as possible while cooking. Cook over really low heat for about 2 to 3 hours, depending on the tenderness and type of meat. It’s ready when you can literally pull the meat apart in tender strands.

4. At this point, season the braise carefully with salt and pepper to taste and allow to cool slightly before removing the meat from the pan. Using 2 forks, pull apart all the lovely pieces of meat, throwing away any  bones. Skim any fat from the surface of the braising liquid. Put the meat back in the pan and place over low heat.

5. It’s now ready to serve, so cook your pappardelle in a pan of boiling, salted water for 3 minutes if using fresh pasta or according to the package instructions if using dried. Once it’s cooked, drain it in a colander, saving some of the cooking liquid in case the sauce needs a little loosening. Remove the pot of stewed meat from the heat and stir in the butter and Parmesan with a little of the cooking water — this will make it juicy and shiny. Toss together with your pasta and serve immediately. If desired, serve sprinkled with a little finely chopped fresh rosemary and some more grated Parmesan.

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