Pappardelle with braised beef shank
Yet again, another inspiration from Padella in Borough Market. A mostly-traditional preparation of braised beef shanks, combined with extra-wide pappardelle, provide the ultimate comfort food, especially during the winter. This is a fun dish to make if you are spending all day at home; the braise should take at least three hours, but braising for at least six helps the sauce reduce even further. Make sure to view step-by-step photos by scrolling down past the recipe.
GATHER (3-4 servings)
Pappardelle (homemade, or one box, about 500g)
Beef shanks (I used 2 for the size of my pot)
Yellow onion (one half)
Carrots (3-4 medium)
Celery (3-4 stalks)
1 bay leaf
1 sprig of rosemary
Beef stock
White wine
San Marzano tomatoes (800g, or 28oz)
Tomato paste (1 tbsp)
Parsley
Garlic (2 cloves)
Lemon zest
Olive oil
Grana Padano or Parmigiano Reggiano, for garnish
ASSEMBLE
Assemble your soffritto by finely chopping half of a large yellow onion, 3-4 stalks of celery, and 3-4 medium carrots. (About 200g each.)
Add a generous amount of olive oil to a large pot or dutch oven on medium-high heat, and when shimmering, place the two salted beef shanks and sear on each side. (About 2-3 minutes per side.)
Set the beef shanks aside. Turn the heat down to medium, and add the soffritto, and with a wood spoon, begin scraping the fond from the beef shanks into the mixture. Add about 2 tablespoons of kosher salt. Sauté for about 8-10 minutes until the onions are translucent.
Pass 2 cloves of garlic through a garlic press, and add to the soffritto. Cook for another 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
Add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste, and mix together with the soffritto. Cook for another 1 minute.
Add 2 cups of dry white wine to the mixture, and turn the heat up to high. Cook for 4-5 minutes.
Reduce heat to medium, and add an entire 800g (28oz) can of San Marzano tomatoes, and lightly crush the tomatoes with a wooden spoon.
Place the two beef shanks in the pot, and add a rosemary sprig and one bay leaf. If needed, add enough beef stock to increase the volume of the liquid until the beef shanks are nearly covered. Cover, and place in an oven set to 150-C or 300-F for at least 6 hours.
After at least 6 hours, remove the pot from the oven. Carefully remove the beef shanks, including the bones, and all pieces of meat that may have fell off the bones, and place in a bowl.
Place a fine metal sieve over a large bowl, and dump the remaining contents of the pot through it. With a wooden spoon, firmly press on the soffrito to extract as much liquid as possible. Transfer the liquid to a container and let cool.
After the beef has cooled, pull and separate. (See photos below.)
After the cooking liquid has cooled slightly and the fat has separated, skim off most of the fat, and incorporate about half of the liquid with the pulled beef. Put in a container and set aside at room temperature.
Place a large pot of heavily salted water on a burner, and bring to a boil. If using dried pappardelle, cook to 2 minutes less than the recommended time. If using fresh pasta, cook for 45 seconds.
In a saucepan over medium heat, drop a generous amount of beef mixture, some braising liquid, and a little bit of butter, and some salted water to loosen the beef mixture and melt the butter.
Drop the pappardelle in the beef mixture, and mix to incorporate.
Serve immediately, and garnish with an abundance of Parmigiano Reggiano and a parsley/lemon zest mixture.
GATHER (Pasta Dough, about 3-4 servings)
300g of 00 flour
245g of egg yolks (about 18 eggs)
Room temperature water (to bring egg mixture to 245g, if needed)
ASSEMBLE (Pasta Dough)
In a large bowl, place 300g of 00 flour and create a well for the egg yolks.
With the bowl tared on a scale, begin placing the egg yolks in the well. If you don’t quite make 245g of eggs, add enough water to make up the difference.
With a fork, gradually mix small amounts of flower into the egg mixture in a circular mixture until an unrefined mixture forms.
Place the mixture on a clean surface, and begin kneading for 10 minutes. At the end of 10 minutes, the ball of dough should be smooth and bounce back when poked. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature for at least 1 hour.
Once rested, unwrap the dough and cut into quarters (see photo below) and take one quarter and flatten with your hands.
Using the widest setting (0) on your pasta machine, pass the dough through the pasta machine. (If the dough feels sticky, add a little bit of flower.)
Laminate the dough by folding in thirds (see photo below) and pass through perpendicular to the pasta machine on its widest setting. Do this lamination process three more times, and fold to ensure the pasta is as wide as the pasta machine. (You want this to be as wide as possible.)
Decrease the thickness by turning the knob to setting 1, and pass the sheet of pasta through twice. Continue this process, moving up to setting 6.
Cut the sheet in half, and fold. (See photos below.) With a knife or pasta cutter, cut each folded piece into thirds. Unfold, dust with flower, stack on top of each other, and place on a flowered sheet and cover. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.
