The original recipe I found for this — written for a UK audience — suggested using a cut called “silverside.” Here in the US, that’s called “bottom round” in most butcher’s shops. My regular butcher counter only had top round, so that’s what I’ve got written down here.
I like using dried rigatoni here. It really needs to be something substantial.
This makes quite a bit of sauce, enough to serve 4-6 people as a main or 8-10 as a starter. I usually budget around 50 g of dried pasta for a starter portion and 100 g for a main.
The hook for this recipe in the Financial Times where I got this was the fact that this uses a (figurative) ton of onions. The kilo of onions is not a joke. But it’s a fantastic sauce.
Ingredients
- Olive oil
- 2 carrots, peeled and finely diced
- 2 stalks celery, finely diced
- 1 kg (about 8 medium) onions, very thinly sliced
- 600 g top round, cut into roughly 3 cm cubes
- 3 sprigs thyme
- 3 bay leaves
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Parmesan, finely grated (optional)
Method
Heat a thick film of olive oil in a cocotte or Dutch oven over medium-low heat.
Add the carrots, celery, and onions plus a generous pinch of salt. Cook the aromatics down until they’re beginning to soften, 5 to 10 minutes.
Then add the thyme and bay leaves, and the beef. Add a generous grind of black pepper. Stir everything together.
Reduce the heat to slow and cover the pot.
Let the sauce simmer until the beef is falling apart, 2-3 hours. Refill the pot with additional water if it runs dry.
When the beef is fall-apart tender, shred the beef in the sauce. Finish the sauce with a dose of pasta cooking water.