Oxtail Ragù

Photo by gabbiistudios on Unsplash

Roman Sunday cooking. Low and slow until the collagen surrenders and the sauce becomes something you want to eat with a spoon. Serve with rigatoni. Not optional.

Prep: 30 min · Cook: 3h 30m · Serves: 6 · Skill: Medium

Ingredients

• 1.5kg oxtail, cut into segments
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 2 celery stalks, finely diced
• 1 carrot, finely diced
• 4 garlic cloves, sliced
• 200ml dry white wine
• 800g crushed San Marzano tomatoes
• 2 cloves, 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tbsp bitter cocoa powder
• Olive oil, salt, black pepper
• 500g rigatoni, to serve
• Pecorino Romano, to finish

Method

1. Brown the oxtail. Season the oxtail generously. In a heavy Dutch oven, heat a good slug of olive oil over high heat and brown the oxtail pieces in batches — don’t crowd the pan. You want deep mahogany colour on all sides. This takes patience and time. Remove and set aside.
2. Build the soffritto. Lower the heat to medium. In the same pot, cook the onion, celery, and carrot until soft and just starting to colour — about 12 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes. Don’t rush this step; the soffritto is the base of everything.
3. Deglaze and add tomatoes. Pour in the wine and scrape up all the brown bits from the bottom. Let it reduce by half. Add the tomatoes, cloves, cinnamon, and cocoa. Stir well — the cocoa sounds unusual but adds a background depth that rounds out the acidity.
4. Braise low and slow. Return the oxtail to the pot. The liquid should come halfway up the meat. Cover and cook at the lowest possible simmer for 3–3.5 hours, turning the meat every 45 minutes, until it’s falling from the bone.
5. Shred and finish. Remove the oxtail. Pull the meat from the bones and shred it back into the sauce. Remove the cinnamon and cloves. Taste and adjust seasoning. Cook your rigatoni al dente, toss directly in the ragù, and serve with a heavy hand of grated Pecorino.

Make it ahead: This ragù is better the next day. Make it on Saturday, refrigerate overnight, skim any solidified fat from the top, reheat gently and serve on Sunday. It also freezes beautifully for up to three months.