Slow cooking this Beef Ragu on low makes it so the beef falls apart at forks touch. While it cooks a rich tomato gravy comes together so you have barely any work to do once it comes out of the oven.
Tonight is our local Christmas parade. It’s the one thing that I refuse to miss so this Mitten Movie Night will be played out on the streets of our little town.
The holiday parade in our little town reminds me of every small town in almost every Christmas movie I’ve ever seen. The town crier comes out to start and ends with the most authentic Santa and in between the floats filled with people you do business with or have grown up with pretty much your whole life. It always makes me feel like I live in one of the most special places around.
So tonight we will fill out bellies up with this delicious dinner then head off to see over 100 floats–let’s just say it doesn’t go quickly. Then once we get home it will be time for some Holiday ‘Cheer’.
What beer pairs well with a Christmas Parade?
The beer: Christmas Ale from Breckenridge Brewery.
We picked up mini kegs of this Christmas Ale at Costco last week. Perfect for sharing with guests who are visiting after the parade.
How to make Beef Ragu:
To start remove any extra fat on the eye of round roast. When I first started making this I didn’t remove the fat and it would make the sauce very oily. The roast still stays very tender.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and make sure your racks are placed so you can add the large pot or dutch oven since you will cook this all in one pot.
In a large pot or dutch oven heat 2 Tbs oil. Salt and pepper each side then add to the pot. Sear each side to trap in the juices for 2-3 minutes.
Remove the beef and put on a plate.
There will still be some oil in the pan to that add the onion and garlic. Sautee for 2-3 minutes. To the onions now add the wine, beef stock, and tomato paste. Stir to combine all the liquids together and cook down the tomato sauce so there are no more clumps. Add the beef back into the pan. Finally, add the carrots.
Place a top over the pot and into the oven this goes for 3 hours. Check the roast at 2 to 2-1/2 hours to make sure that there is still liquid in the pot.
When this comes out of the oven you should have a sauce that while thick, it will still have a little ‘give’ to it. Take the roast out of the sauce and shred or slice it as you like. Add the meat back into the sauce and combine.
This beef is very versatile so boil some noodles or whip up some mashed potatoes. I made some yellow-skinned mashed potatoes because they are a major food group in my life.
Ladle the sauce and beef over the top.
Tips & Variations for Beef Ragu:
- If you prefer to leave the fat on the roast, skim the sauce of fat once it is done the cooking.
- Depending on the varying temperatures of oven you may have to add a little more beef stock so it does not dry out. Try adding 1/4 cup at a time as needed.
Bake up some fluffy rolls and here you are….
From our home in the Bottom Left of the Mitten to yours ~ Enjoy!
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Beef Ragu
Ingredients
- 2-1/2 pounds beef eye of round roast trim off fat
- 2 Tbs oil
- 1 small white onion chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 8 ounces red wine I used Merlot
- 6 ounces tomato paste
- 3 cups beef broth
- 2 cups baby carrots
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and make sure your racks are placed so you can add the large pot or dutch oven since you will cook this all in one pot.
- Remove any extra fat on the eye of round roast.
- In a large pot or dutch oven heat 2 Tbs oil. Salt and pepper each side then add to the pot. Sear each side to trap in the juices for 2-3 minutes. Remove the beef and put on a plate.
- In the same pot add the onion and garlic. Sautee for 2-3 minutes. To the onions now add the wine, beef stock and tomato paste. Stir to combine all the liquids together and cook down the tomato sauce so there are no more clumps.
- Add the beef back into the pan. Finally add the carrots.
- Place a top over the pot and into the oven this goes for 3 hours. Check the roast at 2 to 2-1/2 hours to make sure that there is still liquid in the pot. Adding 1/4 cup at a time as needed.
- Take the roast out of the sauce and shred or slice it as you like. Add the meat back into the sauce and combine. Serve with noodles or mashed potatoes. Enjoy!
Notes
- If you prefer to leave the fat on the roast, skim the sauce of fat once it is done the cooking.
- Depending on the varying temperatures of oven you may have to add a little more beef stock so it does not dry out. Try adding 1/4 cup at a time as needed.
Last Updated on April 22, 2020 by Erin@BottomLeftoftheMitten
I made this, doubling the recipe but keeping the cooking time the same. My roast was a little over done, but shredded up nicely. Running out of cooking liquid was NOT a problem. They only thing I changed was adding half a cup of milk (so a quarter cup if I hadn’t doubled it) to the onions and garlic and cooking it till it basically disappeared. We’ve got some acid reflux issues, and adding milk to tomato based sauces seems to fix that for us. We ate it over noodles the first night and liked it pretty well, but we reheated the leftovers and the noodles together the following day, and that made a huge difference! I would highly recommend heating the noodles with the sauce if you eat it with noodles.
Thank you, Grace! I love to hear the updates you made, the addition of milk would make the gravy creamier and the noodle tip is a must-try.