Preparation Time 15
Cooking Time 15
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
500 g minced beef
2 stems of silverbeet, leaves coarsely chopped and stalk coarsely chopped
1 carrot and 1 onion, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp coarsely chopped thyme, plus extra to serve
1 tbsp coarsely chopped oregano, plus extra to serve
1 fresh bay leaf
1 cinnamon quill
1 tsp dried chilli flakes
Pinch of grated nutmeg
3⁄4 cup red wine
2 400 g cans cherry tomatoes or chopped tomatoes
1 cup beef stock
8 swiss brown mushrooms or button mushrooms, thickly sliced 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, or to taste
400 g rigatoni
Finely grated parmesan, to serve
METHOD
1 Heat a little olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat, add beef and brown well, breaking up with a wooden spoon. While you’re doing this, blitz the silverbeet stalks, onion, celery and garlic in a food processor, then stir into beef along with herbs and spices. Add wine, bring to the boil and reduce by half (1-2 minutes), then add tomatoes and stock, bring to the simmer and cook for about 10 minutes until well- flavoured. Stir though silverbeet leaves and mushrooms in the last couple of minutes cooking along with vinegar.
2 Meanwhile, cook rigatoni in a large saucepan of generously salted boiling water until al dente, drain and toss through ragu. Serve hot scattered with parmesan and extra herbs.
Tip
Mince with a higher fat content is best for this ragu, so avoid lean mince in this instance.
The Carousel thanks BeefandLamb.com.au for this recipe.