Mince may be a flexible ingredient but we often tire of it too! Today, we wanted a pasta dish but with something a little different. Suggestions were made for salmon and cream sauce, carbonara, bolognaise, tomato and basil but the teen greeted all suggestions with a ‘meh’ response.

For a change, I slow cooked beef Ragu in the oven made with a strip of beef rather than minced meat. Yes, it was very rich but it was also rather delicious. Cooking it slowly gave the dish time for the flavour to deepen. The meat absorbed all the other flavours and liquid. At the end of the cooking process, it simply fell apart. The completed dish really was a winner!

The preparation was also quick. As this was oven cooked, I didn’t pre-fry anything so there was no added fat. This recipe serves 4-6.

Ingredients
2lbs rib steak
1 large onion, sliced in rings
4 cloves of garlic, chopped in small pieces
1 tablespoon of parsley, chopped
2 sprigs of rosemary, stems removed
2 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 tin of chopped tomatoes in own juice
1 pint good quality beef stock
¼ pint red wine
4 tablespoons tomato puree
Salt and pepper

Method
1. Heat oven to 220 C
2. Cover the bottom of a heavy casserole dish with the chopped vegetables and lay the meat flat out on top
3. Mix all the wet ingredients and herbs together. Season with salt and pepper
4. Pour this mix over the meat and vegetables
5. Place greaseproof paper over the top to help seal the dish and secure the lid on top
6. Place in the oven and after 15 minutes, reduce the heat to 150 C
7. Cook at this heat for 3 to 3 ½ hours – it is done when the meat is falling apart and the sauce has reduced
8. Remove from the oven and mix together
9. Cover and leave to stand for 10 minutes
10. Serve with pasta of choice