Slow Cooked Oxtail Ragu

Ingredients

• 500 ml hot beef stock
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 celery sticks, sliced
• 400 g canned chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• sea salt and black pepper, to season
• 2 large onions, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 thyme sprigs
• 300 ml red wine
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1½ kg oxtail, cut into joints
• 2 bay leaves
• 400 g pappardelle
• 15 g fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

Method

1. Pat the oxtail joints dry and season generously with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a heavy stainless or cast-iron pan over a medium-high heat until it shimmers, then brown the oxtail in two or three batches, 3–4 minutes a side, until every face is deeply mahogany. Don't crowd the pan; all at once and the meat boils in its own juices instead of caramelising. Transfer to the slow cooker as each batch is done.
2. Drop the heat to medium and tip the onion, carrot and celery into the same pan with all that fond. Cook for about 8 minutes, stirring now and then, until softened and starting to catch at the edges. Stir in the garlic and tomato purée and cook for just 30–60 seconds until fragrant.
3. Pour in the red wine and let it bubble hard for 2 minutes, scraping up every sticky brown bit from the base of the pan.
4. Tip the contents of the pan into the slow cooker. Add the chopped tomatoes, hot beef stock. Stir once to settle everything around the oxtail, cover, and cook on low for 8 hours (or high for 4) until the meat is falling from the bone and the sauce is glossy and deeply reduced.
5. Lift the oxtail pieces onto a board. Shred the meat with two forks, discarding bones, sinew and excess fat, and return the meat to the sauce. Fish out the bay and thyme stalks. Taste; it should be rich, savoury and faintly sweet from the long cook. If the ragu feels loose, simmer uncovered on high for 20–30 minutes until thick and clingy to the spoon.
6. Use plenty of water and bring it to a strong boil; add enough salt for the water to taste balanced. Season the pasta itself. Cook the pappardelle to al dente per the packet, then drain, reserving a mugful of the cooking water.
7. Tip the pasta into the ragu and toss to coat, loosening with a splash of pasta water if needed so every ribbon is glossy. The acid from the wine and tomatoes has had eight hours to mellow; taste once more and adjust the salt before plating.