Ingredients
Scale
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 pounds beef short ribs
- 2 pounds sweet Italian sausage
- 1/8 pound of guanciale or pancetta, diced
- 1/2 cup dry red wine
- 2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 sticks of celery, finely chopped
- 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2 28oz cans good Italian whole peeled tomatoes (preferably San Marzano)
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- 1 pound of mezzi rigatoni
Instructions
- In a large, heavy bottomed sauce pan or dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-high heat, then brown the short ribs and sausage on all sides and transfer to a plate. Work in batches, do not crowd the pan.
- Lower the heat to medium-low and add the pancetta or guanciale, cooking until fat renders. 3-5 minutes.
- Add the carrots, onion and celery and cook until tender, about 10 minutes.
- Add the red wine and cook scraping up the bits from the bottom of the pan, until reduced by half.
- In a bowl crush the tomatoes coarsely by hand and add to the pot. Add the tomatoes with their juices. Add about 1 cup of water to the bowl, swirl around to get all of the leftover tomato and pour into pan.
- Add salt & pepper to taste. Let sauce come to a boil, then lower to a simmer.
- Let sauce simmer until meat on the short ribs is tender, 3-4 hours. Transfer meats to a serving platter and keep warm. Keep the sauce simmering while cooking the pasta in next step.
- Bring a pot of liberally salted water to a boil and add mezzi rigatoni. Cook until al dente. Strain and add back to pot. Add enough sauce to the pasta to coat it well, and mix it up.
- Transfer pasta to serving plates and top both the pasta and the platter of meats with a little more sauce (don’t overdo it). You can serve the pasta first, followed by the meats, with some potatoes or vegetables as a side. Or you can serve it all together at once, family style.
- Prep Time: 20 min
- Cook Time: 4 hours