Aspiring Elephant

The Beauty of this Dish

I’ll begin by saying that of all the types of food that I excel at – pasta is up near the top. Part of that has to do with working for over 3 years at a couple of great Italian joints. I had the opportunity to really learn how to make restaurant level pasta dishes. I also had the privilege of learning traditional pasta making, by hand, from a true master craftsman (It’s really not that hard, once you get the hang of it). I won’t lie to you, making braised short rib ravioli from scratch involves some work, but oh is it worth it.

Braised short rib ravioli is flat out one of the best recipes in my repertoire. If I am having friends or family over for a special occasion and they are in the mood for Italian – this is it. It takes a bit of work as I believe the total preparation time is around 5 hours, most of which is pretty hands off. But let me give you a rough idea of what this dish involves: Sear the short ribs, braise for 3.5 hours, make the pasta, shred the beef, add cheese, add to a piping bag, add filling to raviolis, make the sauce using reserved braising liquid, boil pasta, finish with sauce, and finally plate. It may sound like a lot but it’s really not that bad. If you are in the mood for something less meaty, also check out my recipe for Spinach and Ricotta Ravioli!

Do you really expect me to make Braised Short Rib Ravioli from scratch?!

Realistically, this isn’t going to be something just anyone whips up during a week night after clocking a 10 hour work day – that would be crazy. And let’s be honest, in a fraction of the time that it takes to prepare this meal, you could just go to any good Italian restaurant and order the house made rav. This is special, though. When you prepare a meal that requires this amount of work, you add a little of yourself to the dish, and it’s just that much more memorable. There is just something magical about finally finishing a dish that you’ve spent hours and hours making, to finally sit down, and reap the rewards of your hard work. And I promise you, whoever you are making this for, will truly appreciate the effort.

Ingredients

For the Short Ribs

• 2-4 lbs of short ribs (preferably bone in)
• 1 large onion
• 2 carrots
• 3 garlic cloves
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 celery stalks
• 1 1/2 tbsp flour
• 2 cups red wine
• 2 cups beef broth
• salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Fresh Thyme and Rosemary

For the Pasta

• 500g flour
• 5 large eggs
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt

For the Ravioli Filling

• 2 cups shredded short ribs
• 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
• 3/4 parmesan cheese

For the Sauce

• Reserved braising liquid (strained)
• 1 tbsp butter
• Reserved pasta water

The Short Ribs

To start things off you will need 2-4 lbs of short ribs. 2 lbs should be more than enough for 4 people (keep in mind, this is a hearty dish). Short ribs come from the chuck section of the cow, as they tend to be shorter, hence the name “short ribs”. They have more muscle, making them a bit tougher, but on the other end, they also have great flavor. Braising is one of the best ways to get the most out of the short ribs since we’re going to be cooking them low and slow until tender. I prefer to have , the more flavorful, bone in cut, but boneless short ribs are still great – and that’s what we will be using with this recipe.

I like to bring the meat to room temperature before I do anything, so set them out on the counter and dab with a paper towel to absorb any moisture that accumulates on the surface. Season generously with salt and pepper. To sear the short ribs, I tend to always use my trusted my 2 3/4 qt. Le Creuset dutch oven. I use this thing so much and it’s one of the best investments I have ever made.

The idea here is to develop a nice, flavorful crust, sealing in all of that flavor. Bring your oven safe pot or dutch oven to temperature over medium heat, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, then begin to sear all sides. In the meantime, preheat your oven to 325°F. I like to sear all sides for around 10 minutes, then transfer to a dish to rest. Leaving the juices in the pot, add onion and garlic, along with a little salt/pepper. Allow the onion and garlic to develop color then add 1 1/2 tbsp of all purpose flour. Mix well using a spatula until you can no longer see the flour. We want to cook off some of that flour taste.

After a few more minutes, proceed to add 3 tbsp of tomato paste. Thoroughly mix the paste into the onion and garlic, continue to cook for a few minutes until it starts to develop a darker, brick color. Add in carrots and celery allowing them to cook for 3-4 minutes. Now it’s time to deglaze the pan with our red wine. Ideally, a dry red wine like a Cabernet Sauvignon is going to be the best option here. Add two cups and allow the alcohol to do its job by loosening up some of those cooked bit on the bottom of the pan. Follow up with a spatula, scraping the bottom of the pot. Allow the red wine to cook for 3 minutes then add 2 cups of beef stock or broth. For added, herby flavor, throw in a few sprigs of thyme, rosemary, along with 2-3 bay leaves.

Add the short ribs back to the pot, nestling them in the liquid. Cover with lid and braise for 3-3.5 hours, checking on them periodically. If they liquid level becomes too low, feel free to add additional broth.

Before Braising

After Braising

The Pasta

I love making pasta. It’s fun, it’s relaxing, and it’s a lot easier than people think. A good rule of thumb is 100g of flour per person, and for every 100g of flour, you will need one egg. So, cooking for 5 people? 500g of flour and 5 eggs. Pretty simple.

Pour out flour onto surface and create a well in the center, then crack the eggs right in the middle. This will allow us to gradually mix the flour with the eggs without creating a mess.

Proceed to mix the eggs using a fork, gradually pulling in more and more flour, until it becomes a shaggy mixture. At that point, you can use a bench scraper, or even just your hands to press the mixture together until a dough ball forms. Using your palms, knead the dough until it becomes smooth. If done correctly, this should take around 10-15 minutes of kneading. Feel free to take breaks if your arms become sore, but it shouldn’t require too much pressure. Be patient, and keep going until smooth.

Once the dough feels smooth to the touch, wrap in plastic, and set aside to rest. If we were to try to roll it out now, it would just spring back from the tightened gluten strands. Giving it time to rest will allow it to relax.

Back to the Short Ribs (and filling)

After 3-3.5 hours the short ribs should be nice and tender. Carefully remove the pot from the oven and remove the short ribs. Set aside to cool. Make sure to save all of that liquid left in the pot. All of that braising liquid is going to become a fantastic sauce we will finish the pasta with. Pull apart the meat and add to a food processor, along with 1 1/2 cups of ricotta cheese and 3/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese. Pulse a few times until mixed. The texture of the filling is up to you, you can pulse until smoother, which will be much easier to pipe into the ravioli. Add contents to a piping bag and set aside until ready to use.

Back to the Pasta

I usually like to let the pasta dough ball rest for at least 30 minutes. That would give it adequate time to relax. If you try to roll it out and it springs right back, wrap it back up and try again in 15 minutes or so. It’s best to work in batches – cut off a small portion of the dough.

Add flour to surface and being to roll out using a rolling pin. If you have a pasta machine, your life is going to be that much easier. They not only save you from having to roll the dough out by hand but they will also produce more consistent sized pasta sheets. However, it’s totally doable by hand. Italian grandmothers have been rolling out pasta dough for hundreds of years, if they can do it, so can you.

Roll out the dough thin enough to where you can see the color of your skin through it. Using a pizza slicer, cut a rectangle that measures roughly 6″ by 18″.

Pull out the piping bag with the short rib and cheese filling then pipe 1 tbsp dots near the edge of one side of the rectangle. It is best to leave about 1 inch of space in between each dot.

I like to brush on a small amount of water onto the opposite ends of the dough, that will essentially act like a glue when folding over. Fold over the dough to evenly match up with the opposite end. Then proceed to press together, ideally pushing out any trapped air. Trim off any excess dough using a pasta cutter, which I have included in the next photo. I bought this one from William’s Sonoma for about $20. Continue to work in batches, rolling out, filling, then cutting your raviolis. Place on baking rack to dry.

For the Sauce

We’re almost there. The hardest parts are behind us. The only thing left to do is prepare the finishing sauce, which is essentially already made since we reserved the braising liquid. Pour braising liquid through a fine strainer and add to a small pot or sauce pan. Warm up sauce over medium heat. If the sauce is too thick, feel free to add a small amount of beef stock.

Boil water in a large pot, adding salt for additional flavor. Fresh pasta isn’t like store-bought pasta that has been sitting dry for who knows how long. These raviolis shouldn’t take but a minute or two in boiling water. Boil pasta in batches and add to a pan along with braising liquid. I like to add about 1 tbsp of butter to each batch giving the sauce a smoother finish. And that’s pretty much it. Top with additional parmesan cheese and a few leaves of fresh basil.