Red Wine Braised Short Ribs

Red Wine Braised Short Ribs

This hands-off, do-ahead dinner couldn’t be easier. Your house will smell wonderful as the meat roasts in the oven. Make some mashed potatoes to go with. 

• 2 T avocado oil

• 5 lbs bone-in short ribs

• Kosher salt and ground black pepper

• 1 onion, peeled and chopped

• 2 stalks celery, chopped

• 2 medium carrots, chopped

• 3 T tomato paste

• 1 750-ml bottle dry red wine 

• 1-2 c beef broth or water

• 4 sprigs fresh thyme

• 2 sprigs rosemary

• 1 bay leaf

• 4 sprigs fresh oregano

• 6 cloves garlic, rough chopped

• ½ c parsley, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 350.

In a large Dutch oven or lidded pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Pat short ribs dry with a paper towel and season on all sides with salt and pepper. Working in batches so as not to crowd the pot, brown the ribs on all sides, 6-8 minutes. Remove from the pot to a plate and repeat until all the beef is browned.

Check to see how much fat is left in the pot and pour off all but 2 tablespoons. Reduce heat to medium and add the onions, celery, and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Toss to coat and continue to cook until vegetables are softened but not yet browned, 5 minutes. Add the tomato paste and stir to coat. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until tomato paste has started to caramelize a bit on the bottom of the pot, 2-3 minutes. Add wine and scrape up any browned bits. Simmer for 5 minutes, then add broth and return short ribs to the pot, along with any accumulated juices, nestling them in so that they are about ¾ submerged, adding more broth or water as necessary.  Add the herbs and garlic. Bring to a simmer, then cover the pot, transfer it to the oven and cook for 2 - 2½ hours.

Using tongs, remove short ribs from the pot and transfer to a serving platter. While you could serve from the pot, the vegetables have given up all their flavor and texture and aren’t worth much now, so strain the sauce for easier eating, skimming off excess fat. Garnish ribs with some sauce, chopped parsley and serve remaining sauce alongside. Serve with mashed potatoes.