Slow Cooker Short Rib Ragu with Polenta and Wilted Greens
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Author:
Recipe type: Main
Serves: 6
Ingredients
Slow Cooker Short Rib Ragu
  • 8 bone-in beef short ribs (~2.5-3 pounds)
  • 1 small white onion
  • 2 carrots
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 2 14.5-ounce cans of diced tomatoes
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon dry thyme
  • ¼ teaspoon dry oregano
  • ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
For Serving
  • 1.5 cups dry polenta (corn grits)
  • 4.5 cups water
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 8-10 cups baby greens of choice (spinach, kale, chard)
  • Fresh parsley for garnish
Instructions
  1. Heat a cast iron pan on medium-high heat, oiled generously. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the short ribs and brown them in the hot pan on all sides for about 1-2 minutes per side. Do not crowd the pan and instead cook in batches if needed, setting the seared short ribs onto a plate.
  2. In the meantime, mince the onion, carrots and garlic cloves.
  3. In the base of a slow cooker turned on to high heat, combine the diced tomatoes, onion, carrots, garlic, salt, pepper, thyme, oregano and red pepper flakes. Stir well. Place the browned short ribs into the tomato mixture, submerging them as much as possible. You may have to wedge them on their side, or stand them up to fit them, depending on the size of your slow cooker.
  4. Cover the slow cooker and cook for about 4 hours on high heat. You will know the short ribs are done when the meat easily falls off when you pull on a bone.
  5. When the short ribs are close to ready to serve, combine polenta, water and salt in a pot. Bring it to a boil and then reduce it to a simmer, stirring for 3-4 minutes as it thickens. Turn the heat off and cover the pot for 5 minutes before serving.
  6. In a small pan with some oil, quickly wilt the baby greens over medium heat. Stir continually until almost fully wilted and then remove them from the heat and add salt and pepper to taste.
  7. Use a ladle to remove excess fat from the top layer of the slow cooker. Shred the short rib meat into the sauce. Remove the bones and any connective tissue that didn't break down.
  8. Serve the short rib ragu over the polenta with wilted greens. Garnish with fresh parsley.
Notes
If you prefer to make this one day in advance, stop after step 4 and refrigerate the slow cooker insert. If you have especially fatty short ribs, this will make it easier to remove the excess fat - it will congeal on the surface.
Short rib ragu can be frozen up to 3 months.
Recipe by Uproot Kitchen at https://uprootkitchen.com/2017/08/07/slow-cooker-short-rib-ragu/