Made with leftover Slow Cooked Beef Cheeks in Red Wine, this pasta is part of a series where leftovers are transformed into 2 sensational meals. Using leftover beef cheeks, this luscious pasta is on the table in 15 minutes.
Of the vast variety pastas in this big wide world, ragu is by far my favourite. Ragu is a meat based pasta sauce that is slow cooked so the meat is meltingly tender and the sauce is rich with a depth of flavour you can only get from cooking something long and slow. Something most people don’t have time to do midweek.
But you can get your ragu fix midweek in just 15 minutes simply by using leftover Slow Cooked Beef Cheeks in Red Wine. The beef cheeks are so tender that they practically fall apart at a touch, so it takes seconds to shred. The pasta sauce is made using the sauce of the Slow Cooked Beef Cheeks in Red Wine, loosened up with some crushed tomatoes, then gentled tossed to coat spaghetti in this rich ragu sauce.
You will be surprised how far beef cheeks will stretch for this ragu. You only need about 250g – 300g/8 oz – 10oz of cooked beef cheek (about 1 1/2 cups of shredded meat) to make enough ragu to serve 4 people (generous servings). This is because this pasta is not supposed to be drowning in sauce. The pasta sauce is quite rich, so you only want it to coat the pasta, not pour over an excessive amount.So a little beef cheek goes a long way.
This is the third and last part of the Slow Cooked Beef Cheeks “One Recipe, Three Ways” series. Here’s a round up of the 3 recipes:
1. Slow Cooked Beef Cheeks in Red Wine
2. Beef Cheek, Mushroom and Vegetable Pie – using leftover beef cheeks and sauce, this is ready to pop in the oven in 15 minutes.
3. Beef Cheek Ragu Pasta (this recipe) – made with shredded leftover beef cheeks and sauce. A rich, decadent pasta on the table in 15 minutes.
Stay tuned for a new series coming up soon!
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Beef Cheek Ragu Pasta
Ingredients
- 350 g / 12 oz dried spaghetti
- 2 cups leftover beef from Slow Cooked Beef Cheeks in Red Wine , shredded
- 1 cup Sauce of Slow Cooked Beef Cheeks in Red Wine
- 1 onion (brown, white or yellow), diced
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 cups crushed tomato (canned)
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 to 2 tsp salt (adjust to taste)
- Black pepper
To Serve
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese
- Parsley , finely chopped
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add pasta and cook for 6 minutes or until just before al dente (i.e. slightly undercooked, very firm to touch). The pasta will be cooked more in the pasta sauce.
- Meanwhile, heat olive oil in large pan over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté for 3 minutes.
- Add remaining ingredients. Bring to rapid simmer, stirring occasionally. Adjust seasoning with salt and pepper. If the sauce seems too thick, add a splash of the pasta cooking water.
- Use tongs and transfer the pasta straight from the pot of boiling water into the pan with the ragu sauce. Add 1/2 cup of pasta cooking water and gently toss the pasta in the sauce for 1 to 2 minutes. The pasta is ready when the spaghetti is al dente (cooked but slightly firm to touch) and the sauce has thickened and is tossed through the pasta.
- Serve immediately, sprinkled with freshly grated parmesan cheese and parsley if desired.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
I adore this recipe!! The beef cheeks were rich, fall apart perfection early in the week and this ragu topped it! We got so much (quantity, flavour and joy) from that one beef cheek dish – thank you!
I made ox cheeks in red wine…..I purposely made too much so I could make the the ragu…
Both are delicious…This is my new favourite cut of meat to use. If you like oxtail you’ll love the flavours in these dishes…
Another awesome recipe! Was looking for recipes that I could cook once and eat twice and this was perfect! I had enough leftover to freeze and use for another meal, so looks like I’ll be cooking once and eating thrice! Thanks so much!
Perfect Senitta! N x
Oh Nagi – another winner. I made the beef cheek in the oven yesterday and enjoyed it with some creamy mash and veggies, but was really hanging out to try this beef cheek ragu pasta today. It was absolutely delicious! Almost as good as your spag bol and the perfect way to use up leftovers.
I’m so happy you loved it!
Hey Nagi,
This looks delicious. Is there anyway I could make this recipe without having to make the Beef Cheek in Red Wine recipe first?
I tried this recipe using oyster blade in the base recipe. I made a huge batch of beef and split it, did one batch of pasta and froze the rest. My second batch turned out A1! I have a family of men to feed so I increased the recipe size to 500g pasta, and increased the beef and sauce accordingly. On my first run I forgot to increase the amount of tomato paste. Second time: 1 mini tin of tomato paste was just right to make the finished sauce rich and tomato-y! I love this and so did the blokes of the family! Thanks for your recipes. Bless you.
Wonderful! So glad you enjoyed this Karen, thanks for letting me know! N x
Mmm, made this with some of the leftover beef cheeks recipe last week and the family loved it again! Amazing depth of flavour. My second batch of leftovers will be used to make the little pies tomorrow night. Can’t wait!! Thanks Nagi!
So great to hear Catherine!! Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed this – N x
Hi! I’m from Miami and I can’t find this meat , I’ve asked everywhere and no one knows ! Is there another meat that I could use that has the same texture?
HI Vanessa! Beef Ribs will work very well too 🙂
Great thank you so much, I will try to find this today.
They should be easy to find in Miami, look in the Hispanic markets. All my local Walmarts sell them here in Houston.
Try your local Walmart. I live in Silver Springs FL and that’s the only place I found it. You may also try a Latin or Mexican market.
Hi Nagi, We’ve just returned from doing the “European River Cruise” from Prague through to Paris to celebrate our 50th anniversary, so now catching up with your delightful recipes. Just bought 3 lots of “Beef Cheeks” from Aldi (on special) then checked in on your site. Voila! we’re having them Slow-Cooked tonight then following your suggestion for the next 2 nights. Can’t wait as it smells GOOD even now.
OH WOW! What a trip!!! 🙂 Hope you love these Josephine – N xx
I found it really, really hard to make this ragu, primarily because Mr Beck and I were both picking at the meat like crazy monkeys once I’d cooked the beef cheeks and was trying to shred them, so it was a challenge to actually get it into ragu form! I actually found that even with a bit less meat (cough) than listed this made enough for 8 servings, so that worked out well as it was just delicious. Every bite a warming winter winner! Thanks for yet another excellent recipe!
Beef cheeks where fantastic and using the leftovers to make the ragu with fresh fettuccine was a real winner. Cant wait to make again.
Yessss! So great you enjoyed this one Nat, thanks for letting me know! N xx
Defrosted the left over beef cheek from the original recipe and OMG yummy!! I will be making again, thanks Nagi for the great recipes! 🙂
That’s so great to hear Ky! Thank you for letting me know – N xx ❤️
Sorry if this is a silly question, but how do you shred the beef? Mine sat in the pressure cooker over night and the cheek was a bit stiff the next day. I pulled it apart with my fingers but wonder if there’s a better way; though I don’t have much fancy equipment!
Hi Jay! You cooked it overnight in a pressure cooker??? The ragu should be tender enough to shred with 2 forks, that’s how I do it 🙂
Another winner! Used my leftover beef cheeks in wine to make this one. Delectable. Thanks again, Nagi
Hurrah! SO GLAD you enjoyed it!! Leftover beef cheeks makes an incredible ragu. I love getting multiple meals out of one thing! Thanks for coming back to share your thoughts Bruce!
We skipped the leftovers and went straight to ragu. Added extra stock and wine and reduced it to ensure a very moist pasta topping.
It was a HIT. Thanks so much for the inspiration.
Will go this one again.
Tony
I am SO GLAD YOU LOVED THIS TOO!!! Ooooh, extra stock and wine, can’t go wrong with that. Thank you so much for coming back to share your thoughts Tony! 🙂
Sexy, sexy looking plate of pasta you got there. I’m partial to meaty style pasta myself, Bolognese being my absolute favorite. Love how you stretched your beef cheeks. My fave is still the pie though. If I ever come to visit you, I want pie!
I’d express post the pie to you if I could!! Yes, I was pretty amazed how far the beef stretched. I figured out that 1.5kg (3lb) of beef serves 8 if you use it like this: 2 servings of beef cheeks with potato, 2 servings of pie, and 4 servings of ragu pasta. So thrifty, I love it!