Oxtail Ragu

I wanted to make an oxtail ragu, but heck, I didn't even know what a ragu was and I really wasn't sure what an oxtail was, but I wasn't going to let that stop me.


Oh yeah. Easy, huh? Oxtail... A tail from an ox. But what is an ox? I mean, really.

Come to find out an ox is a castrated bull. Wait, I thought a castrated bull was a steer!


Well, it is.


Huh?

Okay, here's the scoop. A steer is a castrated bull that is under four years old. At the age of four, the steer becomes an ox.


Well, he might not become an ox, but after the age of four years he's referred to as an ox.

I guess it's kind of like: child, teen, adult.

Maybe.

Without the castration thing going on.

Ragù is an Italian term for a sauce that is meat-based. Traditionally, a ragu is served with pasta.

A ragù is usually made by adding meat (in this case, oxtail) to a soffritto (a mixture of chopped onions, ,celery and carrots), which is simmered for a long time with a little tomato sauce.

Finely chop the vegetables for the soffritto: parsnips, carrots, celery, garlic and onion. Saute in olive oil. Add wine and tomato paste.

Soak the oxtail in salted water, drain and boil for 10 minutes in clean water. Drain and dry the oxtail. Brown the oxtail in olive oil. Add the oxtail to the soffritto and simmer for 4 to 5 hours.

Remove the oxtail, let cool and remove meat from bones. There is a fair amount of fat here; likewise, there is a surprising amount of meat. Separate the broth from the veggies and refrigerate overnight. The next day, remove the layer of fat from the meat. Put the soffritto in a processor and pulse until combined.

When you're ready to serve, add the soffritto and meat into the broth and heat through. Serve over pasta of your choice topped with shaved parmesan.

The vegetables, wine, garlic, oxtail and the long cooking time made for an amazing flavor in this dish and the gravy it produced was heaven on a plate!

My recipe was adapted from Matt at Wrightfood.