Oxtail Ragu with Plaintain Gnocchi
Fresh, homemade plantain gnocchi topped with oxtails that have been braised for hours in a rich tomato sauce flavored with lots of red wine.
Ingredients
Oxtail Ragu
- 2 1/2 lb oxtails, cut into 2" sections (fat trimmed)
- 1 large onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 can San Marzano tomatos
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/2 bottle red wine
- 2 cups beef stock
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp harissa paste
- 1 scotch bonnet pepper
- 1 tsp browning
- 2 tbsp all purpose seasoning
- 1 lemon
- fresh thyme
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 2 tbsp canola oil
Plantain Gnocchi
- 2 ripe plantains
- 1 egg
- 3 cups flour, plus more to roll out gnocchi
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- salt
Instructions
Oxtail Ragu
- Clean oxtails and trim any excess fat. Season with all purpose seasoning, browning, salt, and pepper. Refrigerate for 3 hours (or preferably overnight).
- Preheat oven to 360 degrees F.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Brown oxtails on each side. Work in batches, making sure not to crowd the oxtails. Remove from pot and transfer to a plate.
- Add the remaining oil to the dutch oven and saute onions, carrots, and garlic, about 3 minutes. Add tomato paste, fresh thyme, paprika, scotch bonnet pepper (remove seeds and finely chop), zest and juice of one lemon, diced San Marzano tomatoes, tomato paste, and brown sugar. Stir together and cook for another 5 minutes. Add red wine and beef stock to de-glaze. Bring to a boil, then add oxtails and stir to coat. Cover the dutch oven and place in the oven. Cook for approximately 3 1/2 - 4 hours, checking at the 2 hour mark to see if additional liquid is needed. If more than half the liquid has evaporated after 2 hours, add another 1/2 cup of stock.
Plantain Gnocchi
- Peel plantain and boil in salted water for about 12 minutes. You want the plantain to be cooked through, but not overly soft.
- Drain plantain and let it cool. Once plantain has cooled, use a potato ricer or a fork to mash the plantains. Make sure no clumps remain.
- Add flour and salt, then use a fork to make a well in the middle and pour in egg and olive oil. Beat the egg, then use your fork to slowly incorporate the flour, egg, and the mashed plantain. Once everything is incorporated, begin to kneed the dough. Be careful not to over knead. The dough will be sticky, but should form a ball. Add more flour as needed.
- Let dough rest in the fridge for 20 minutes. Then roll the dough into a log and cut into 6 equal pieces. Roll each piece into a log again, then cut off small squares. Hold each square in the palm of your hand and slowly roll the back of a fork across the surface of the gnocchi to shape the dumplings and create small wedges. The ridges will help the sauce stick to the pasta.
- Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Add salt, then slowly add the gnocchi one by one. The gnocchi will be done when they rise to the top, approximately 1 minute. Use a strainer to remove the gnocchi from the pot.
- Assemble the dish by plating a spoonful of gnocchi onto a plate. Laddle some of the ragu sauce on top of the gnocchi, then add pieces of the oxtails. Top with fresh flat leaf parsley and shredded Parmesan cheese (optional).
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