Mulled Wine Beef Ragu with Gnocchi. Slow-cooked, fall apart braised beef stewed in a rich red wine and tomato sauce infused with warming mulling spices, fresh citrus, a bouquet of herbs and served over potato gnocchi with lots of fresh parmesan and parsley. This one pot meal is super comforting, bursting with holiday flavours and feeds many.

This meal is the heart of the holidays. It’s made with fresh ingredients, all comes together in one pot, smells incredible and needs to be added to everyone’s seasonal repertoire. This dish comes to mind when i’m looking forward to sitting around the table with the family smiling and laughing over a delicious meal. It’s elevated, casual, and cozy all in one.

Sunday sauce and Sunday suppers bring smiles all around. There’s just something about food that’s been cooking all day long. This recipe starts off like most, browning the meat and sweating the vegetables. The first step is to cube the meat into large chunks and generously season it with salt and pepper. I like to go heavy on the seasoning because the meat cooks for a long time, by the time its all ready it won’t be lacking in any salt. Its always best to go over then under in these types of recipes. Next is to toss the beef in some flour. This will help brown the meat better when you put it in the hot oil. It will deepen the colour, flavour and get it caramelizing quicker which helps the meat bring out its natural flavours.

MULLED WINE

To me mulled wine screams Christmas time and the holidays. Especially if you live somewhere that’s cold and snows a lot. It feels extra magical and special to sip on hot wine full of aromatics when its cold outside. Since red wine is very common for braising beef I though it would be fun to take it one step further and add ingredients for mulled wine. I like to cut my orange in half and stud it with the cloves so that they aren’t lost in the liquid while it cooks. You won’t want to bite into one of those. Next is some cinnamon sticks, star anise and fresh herbs. I like to add all these things just before putting the pot in the oven so that they all sit on the top. It doesn’t need to be stirred in, lots of the flavours will seep into the sauce as it cooks down.

I like to serve this with potato gnocchi in place of cooked potatoes. It switches things up from the old school traditional way and makes it a little more fun. You get the best of both, pasta and potatoes which is perfect for a braised beef. Everything comes together nicely. The sauce hold up and each bite is as good as the first one.

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Mulled Wine Beef Ragu with Gnocchi

Slow-cooked, fall apart beef stewed in a rich red wine and tomato sauce infused with warming mulling spices, fresh orange, and a bouquet of herbs served over gnocchi and finished with a generous amount of parmesan cheese.

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time4 hours hrs

Course: Mains

Cuisine: canadian

Keyword: asparagus, braised beef, fall, gnocchi, mulled wine, slow cooked, winter

Ingredients

• 2 lbs Chuck roast, cut into chunks
• kosher salt and pepper to season
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• olive oil
• 2 medium yellow onions, diced
• 3 celery ribs, chopped
• 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 400g tinned tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 cup beef stock
• 1 orange
• 8 black cloves, whole
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 3 whole star anise
• 1-2 rosemary sprigs
• 3 thyme sprigs
• 1 sprig savoury

to serve

• cooked gnocchi
• finely grated parmesan cheese
• chopped parsley

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Heavily season the beef with salt and pepper. Toss with the flour coating all around each piece.
• Heat some in a large braising pot. Once hot, sear the meat on both sides until nicely browned. Repeat in batches if needed and set aside once done.
• To the same pot, add the chopped onions, cooking to soften a few minutes. Stir in the carrots and celery a few minutes to soften.
• Mix in the minced garlic and tomato paste, pour in the red wine, beef broth, and chopped tomatoes. Bring to a boil and remove from the heat. Return the beef chunks to the pot and submerge in the sauce.
• Slice the orange in half and stud with the cloves and place it in the pot. Add the cinnamon stick, star anise, and herbs. Cover with a lid and transfer to the oven. Cook for 3-4 hours until the beef is very tender and falling apart at the touch.
• Shred the beef and serve overtop some gnocchi, freshly grated parmesan cheese and chopped parsely.