Short Rib Pasta
Published September 19, 2024. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
This short-rib pasta is a delicious recipe for slow-cooked beef in tomatoes, wine, and herbs tossed in pasta for the perfect Sunday meal. You will love how rich and flavorful this dish is.
We eat a lot of pasta in my house and love all the different Italian sauces. If you’re looking to expand your repertoire, try my Salmon Pasta or Pasta al limone.
Short Rib Pasta
Short rib pasta is a simple Italian dish of cooked pasta tossed and coated in a sauce of braised short ribs. The sauce consists of seared short ribs slowly cooked in wine, pureed tomatoes, herbs, and sofrito until they fall off the bone and shred apart. It is one of my all-time favorite sauces for friends and family.
Any fresh or dry pasta can be used with the sauce. However, it’s best to use a wider pasta like pappardelle or a tubular pasta like rigatoni. In addition, I like to toss the sauce and pasta with finely grated Parmigiano Reggiano for some fantastic flavor. For a more in-depth flavor, try my Short Rib Ragu variation.
Ingredients and Substitutions
- Beef – Bone-in or boneless short ribs can be used for this recipe.
- Tomatoes — For this recipe, you can use crushed, whole, peeled tomatoes that have been hand-crushed, diced, or pureed.
- Herbs – I used bay leaves and fresh rosemary. You can also use thyme.
- Onions – Yellow, white, or sweet onions can be used. In addition, you’ll need some whole garlic cloves.
- Vegetables – Carrots and celery are used.
- Oil – Olive or avocado oil works well. You can also use beef tallow, clarified butter, or ghee.
- Pasta – Pappardelle or any wide tubular pasta like rigatoni is great to use with the short rib sauce.
- Wine – Any dry white wine like Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, or sauvignon blanc will work.
How to Make Short Rib Pasta
Pat the short ribs down with a paper towel and then season all sides with salt and pepper.
Add oil to a large rondeau pot over medium-high heat. Once the oil smokes lightly, add the beef and cook it on all sides until well browned, about 2 to 3 minutes per side.
Remove the ribs and add in the onions, season with salt, turn the heat down to medium and cook for 5 minutes or until lightly browned.
Turn down the heat to low and then stir in the carrots and celery, place on a lid and sweat for 10 minutes.
Add in the garlic and cook just until fragrant, which takes 30 to 45 seconds.
Deglaze with white wine and cook over medium heat and reduce the amount of liquid by one half to concentrate the flavors.
Pour in the tomato puree and 2 cups of water. Add in the rosemary, bay leaves, salt, and pepper and combine.
Place the short ribs back in, add a lid, and bake on a middle rack in the oven at 325° for 2 ½ to 3 hours or until the beef is fork tender.
Remove the herbs and beef bones from the sauce and shred the beef using two forks. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente.
Drain the pasta and mix it in a separate large skillet with some of the sauce, cheese, and about ½ to 1 cup of boiling water, then serve.
Make-Ahead and Storage
Make-Ahead: You can make the sauce 2 days ahead for freshness. Cook, cool, and oil the pasta up to 2 days ahead.
How to Store: Cover and keep it in the fridge for up to 4 days. The pasta will not freeze well. However, you can cover the sauce and keep it in the freezer for 6 months. Thaw it in the refrigerator for 1 day before reheating.
How to Reheat: Add the desired amount of short rib pasta to a large-sized pot and heat over low heat until hot.
Chef Notes + Tips
- You can shred the onions, carrots, and celery on a box grater instead of small-dicing them.
- Remove the lid with an hour remaining in the oven to concentrate the flavor even more.
- I usually freeze any leftover sauce.
More Beef Recipes
Short Rib Pasta
Ingredients
- 3 pounds bone-in short ribs
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large, small-diced yellow onion, about 2 cups
- 3 peeled medium-sized small diced carrots
- 3 small diced ribs of celery
- 6 smashed garlic cloves
- 2 cups dry white wine
- 4 cups pureed tomatoes
- 2 cups water
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 2-4 sprigs fresh parsley
- 1 pound rigatoni
- Coarse salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pat the short ribs down with a paper towel, then season all sides with salt and pepper.
- Add oil to a large rondeau pot over medium-high heat.
- Once the oil smokes lightly add in the beef and cook them on all sides until well browned, which takes about 2 to 3 minutes per side.
- Remove the ribs and add in the onions, season with salt, turn the heat down to medium and cook for 5 minutes or until lightly browned.
- Turn down the heat to low and then stir in the carrots and celery, place on a lid and sweat for 10 minutes.
- Add in the garlic and cook just until fragrant, which takes 30 to 45 seconds.
- Deglaze with white wine and cook over medium heat and reduce the amount of liquid by one half to concentrate the flavors.
- Pour in the tomato puree and 2 cups of water.
- Add in the rosemary, bay leaves, salt, and pepper and mix to combine.
- Place the short ribs back in, add a lid, and bake on a middle rack in the oven at 325° for 2 ½ to 3 hours or until the beef is fork tender.
- Remove the herbs and beef bones from the sauce and shred the beef using two forks.
- Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente.
- Drain the pasta and mix in a separate large skillet with some sauce and cheese, and serve.