This slow cooked brisket ragu is a delicious, rich meat sauce made from beef brisket, slow-cooked to perfection until falling-apart tender. Serve it Bolognese-style with pappardelle or use it as a base for a lasagna (get my Brisket Ragù Lasagna recipe here).
Table of Contents
- Making The Perfect Slow-Cooked Brisket Ragu
- The Meats: Beef Brisket and Pancetta
- The Sofrito
- The Tomatoes
- Wine: Red or White?
- Stock: Beef or Chicken?
- Milk (Yes, Milk!)
- Low and Slow
Making The Perfect Slow-Cooked Brisket Ragu
Consider this a deep dive into the making the perfect slow cooked brisket ragu. It covers everything from why I think sweet onions reign supreme, to why you should only ever use whole rather than chopped plum tomatoes, to how my recipe compares to the official recipe for ragu bolognese (because yes, there is an official recipe that is registered with Bologna’s Chamber of Commerce!).
The key to making a delicious ragù is building layers of flavour. Theoretically, you could just throw the ingredients into a pot and cook them low and slow and you’d get a somewhat decent tasting sauce. But we don’t want decent; we want delicious. And that requires working in steps; it allows us to build successive layers of flavour.
The Meats: Beef Brisket and Pancetta
While a traditional ragù Bolognese is made with mince, this recipe uses brisket, slow-cooked to perfection and then shredded. You start by generously seasoning the brisket pieces with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper before searing them over medium heat on all sides to lock in the juices. Next comes the pancetta – it gets cooked over medium heat until browned and slightly crisp.
Using pancetta (or any kind of cured pork product) adds huge depth of flavour. When I was developing this recipe, I had to decide whether to use smoked or unsmoked pancetta. I settled on smoked; the smokiness adds a nice touch to the dish. However, if I’m making a lasagna and using this ragù as a base (see my recipe for Brisket Ragù Lasagna here), I prefer unsmoked pancetta; I find that the smokiness overwhelms the other components.
The Sofrito
Next comes the sofrito: a combination of sweet onion, carrots and celery. Why sweet onions, specifically? Because sweet onions reign supreme. I use sweet onions a lot in my Italian sauces because they add a lovely sweetness and help cut through the acidity of tomatoes.
You cook the sofrito in the rendered pancetta fat until the veggies are nice and soft. You don’t want them to take on any colour; the goal is to cook them gently until tender, allowing them to release their natural sweetness. Once softened, you add some thinly sliced garlic. The official recipe for ragù Bolognese does not call for garlic, but I love it, so mine does. I’ve made this recipe with and without it, and I think that it’s better with it.
The Tomatoes
This recipe calls for 3 tomato products: double concentrated tomato purée, sundried tomato paste and whole peeled plum tomatoes (we’ll get to these a little later). The tomato purée goes in right after the aromatics. You want to fry the paste out in the oil until it darkens; this helps get rid of that raw, tinny taste. Sundried tomato paste is very non-traditional. It isn’t absolutely necessary but I like it because it adds an extra little punch of umami.
Wine: Red or White?
Italians are on the fence about this one; some say white, others insist on red. I’m on team white wine; I find that the flavour of red wine is a little overpowering and lends the ragu a slight French/beef bourguignon-esque note, which isn’t what I’m looking for in a ragu. Once you’ve fried out the tomato pastes, add the wine and reduce by ¾; this helps drive off the alcohol and concentrate the flavours.
Then comes the third and final tomato product: whole peeled plum tomatoes. Ranging in price from 30p to just over £1, there’s a lot to choose from. My advice? Splurge a little. When it comes to tinned tomatoes, you get what you pay for—the better the quality of the tomatoes, the tastier, more flavourful your sauce will be.
I always recommend buying whole peeled plum tomatoes, rather than chopped tomatoes. Whole peeled plum tomatoes are less processed than chopped tomatoes, which means that they have a brighter, fresher flavour and retain more of their natural sweetness. Moreover, tinned chopped tomatoes generally added water—especially the cheaper brands—which further dilutes their flavour.
Stock: Beef or Chicken?
This is another area of contention: some people prefer beef, others chicken. I’m team chicken stock: brisket is super beefy; I don’t think it needs any additional beef flavour. But if you like your ragU extra beefy, by all means, swap the chicken stock out for beef stock. Whichever stock you choose, make sure it’s good-quality. Remember, the key to making a delicious ragù is building layers of flavour. Adding poor-quality stock is no different to adding barely seasoned water, and we definitely don’t want that.
Milk (Yes, Milk!)
I was shocked when I learned that milk is a cornerstone of ragu. When I was developing this recipe, I tried it with and without milk; with milk is definitely the way to go. It makes a huge difference: it cuts through the acidity of the tomatoes, adds richness and gives the sauce body. This recipe calls for whole milk. While I never drink it, it’s my preferred milk for cooking; save the skimmed milk/ plant-based milks for your cereal or latte.
Low and Slow
Low and slow is the only way to go: it takes time for the brisket to become fall-apart tender and for all the flavours to come together. You can cook the ragù in one of two ways: either cook it on the stove over low heat for 4 ½ to 5 ½ hours, leaving the lid slightly ajar, or bake at 150 degrees Celsius until the meat is nice and tender, 5 to 6 hours.
Once cooked, all that remains is shredding the beef. Remove the brisket pieces from the sauce and allow to rest for 10 mins. This step is crucial; if you don’t let your brisket rest before shredding it, it’ll lose all its moisture—no one wants dry, stringy meat. Return the shredded brisket to the sauce, taste and season the ragù with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper and then you’re done. Serve Bolognese-style with tagliatelle or pappardelle or use it as a base for a delicious lasagna.
Brisket Ragu
A delicious, rich meat sauce made from beef brisket, slow-cooked to perfection until falling-apart tender. Serve it Bolognese-style with pappardelle or use it as a base for a lasagna (get my Brisket Ragù Lasagna recipe here).
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 6 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Meat
Ingredients
- 1 kg beef brisket joint
- 2 tsps sea salt
- ½ tsp freshly-ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 200 g smoked pancetta, finely diced
- 2 sweet onions, finely chopped
- 2 medium carrots, finely chopped
- 4 celery stalks, finely chopped
- 4 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 4 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 2 tbsps double concentrated tomato purée
- 2 tbsps sundried tomato paste
- 400 ml white wine
- 2 x 400 g can of good-quality whole peeled plum tomatoes
- 500 ml good-quality chicken stock
- 400 ml whole milk
- sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Mise en place is your friend! Prep the following ingredients: 1) Dice the smoked pancetta into small cubes (around ½ cm). 2) Finely chop the sweet onion, carrots and celery stalks. 3) Thinly slice the garlic cloves. 4) Measure out the white wine. 5) Carefully pour the tinned tomatoes into a large bowl and crush the tomatoes with your hands. 6) Measure out the chicken stock. 7) Measure out the milk.
- Cut the brisket joint into 8 equal-ish pieces. Pat dry and season with 2 tsp sea salt and ½ tsp freshly-ground black pepper. Use the brisket pieces to mop up the salt and pepper that falls onto the chopping board. It may look like a lot of salt, but trust me on it!
- Heat 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Working in 2 batches, sear the brisket pieces, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides; this process should take around 5 minutes per batch. Once browned, transfer the brisket pieces to a plate or shallow bowl.
- Wipe down the pot with some kitchen towel; you want to remove the oil and any loose burnt bits but leave the fond— the caramelized drippings of the brisket that are stuck to the bottom of the pot—behind.
- Turn the heat down to medium, add the pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat has rendered out and the pancetta is browned and beginning to crisp, 6 to 8 minutes.
- Add the onion, carrots and celery stalks and cook, stirring occasionally, until nice and soft, 10 to 12 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add the fresh rosemary sprigs and cook for another minute, stirring constantly.
- Add the tomato purée and sundried tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until they begin to darken, 4 mins.
- Turn the heat up to medium-high. Add the white wine and cook, stirring occasionally, until it is reduced by around ¾, around 15 minutes.
- Add the tinned tomatoes, chicken stock and milk, return the meat (and its juices) to the pot and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and cover, leaving the lid slightly ajar. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, until the meat is fall-apart tender, 4 ½ to 5 ½ hours.
- Alternatively, you can bake the ragù: add the tinned tomatoes, chicken stock and milk, return the meat (and its juices) to the pot and bring to a simmer. Cover, leaving the lid slightly ajar, and bake at 150°C/fan 130°C until the meat is nice and tender, 5 to 6 hours. Don’t forget to preheat your oven beforehand!
- Remove the pot from the heat. Transfer the beef to a large bowl, loosely cover with aluminium foil and allow to rest for 10 mins, then coarsely shred using 2 forks.
- Return the shredded beef to the sauce. If needed, simmer the ragù uncovered over medium-low heat to thicken, anywhere from 10 to 30 mins. Taste and season with sea salt and freshly-ground black pepper. Serve Bolognese-style with tagliatelle or pappardelle or use it as a base for a delicious lasagna.
- STORAGE: the ragù can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days. To reheat, loosen with a little stock or water and heat over the stove or in the microwave until piping hot. It also freezes exceptionally well; cool, transfer to freezer-safe, airtight containers or freezer bags and freeze for up to 2 months. When ready to use, thaw in the fridge overnight and heat over the stove or in the microwave until piping hot.
Notes
Take the meat out of the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for 30 mins to 1 hour before cooking; this helps it brown more evenly.
