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Oxtail Ragu with Pappardelle.jpg

Oxtail Ragu with capsicum pappardelle

So here is my capsicum pasta with oxtail. The recipe is from (the now sadly closed) Lucio's Paddington. I'm not sure I do it justice but we love it - alongside some crusty bread, a good red, oh... + family of course.

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​Serves 4

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​80ml extra virgin olive oil

​80g pancetta, cut into small cubes

​1 small white onion, finely chopped

​1 carrot, finely chopped

​3 bay leaves

​1 tablespoon freshly chopped flat parsley leaves

​1 oxtail, washed, cut into pieces

​sea salt + freshly ground black pepper

​60ml dry white wine

​1x400g tin peeled tomatoes, passed through a mould or squished with your hands

​5 springs marjoram

​2 celery stalks

​2 tablespoons pine nuts 

​1 tablespoon sultanas, roughly chopped

​50g grated parmesan

​50g grated pecorino

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​Heat the oil in a deep heavy-based frying pan over medium heat. Add the pancetta, onion, carrot, bay leaves + parsley. Mix well with a wooden spoon + cook for 6-8 minutes, stirring often. Add the oxtail + brown on all sides- if it produces any liquid let it evaporate. Season with salt + pepper, then pour in the wine. Cook until the wine has evaporated (until you don't smell it anymore). Add the tomato + marjoram + mix thoroughly. Turn the heat down + cook for about 2 hours until the meat is falling off the bone. Stir + check regularly, adding a little water if the sauce dries out too much.

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​Cook the celery in boiling water until very soft, about 8-10 minutes. Drain, then cut into 1-2cm pieces + set aside.

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​Take the pan with the sauce off the heat. Remove + discard the marjoram. Transfer the oxtail into a bowl and, when cool enough to handle, debone them. Discard the bones + return the meat to the pan. Put the pan back over low-med heat + add the celery, pine nuts + sultanas. Mix thoroughly, breaking up any pieces of meat that are too big + simmer for 15 minutes. The sauce is now ready.

​Cook the pasta (400g) in plenty of boiling salted water until just cooked, about 3 minutes. Drain, reserving a little of the pasta cooking water, + place the pasta onto a serving dish. Add the sauce and a tablespoon or 2 of the cooking water if too dry. Sprinkle over the cheese + serve!

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