rigatoni, short ribs and herb gremolata

My dad’s birthday was about a week ago and his request was a stay-at-home dinner prepared by yours truly. I’m always looking for something new to try and I’d been dying to try braised short ribs for months now. My initial idea was perfect for a cold winter night, but the weather has warmed up and suddenly it didn’t sound as satisfying, so I challenged myself to make something that was fresher and lighter than my wintery idea. After reviewing numerous food blogs and not finding anything quite right, I improvised and used a few parts from different recipes to create my own. I love doing that. I decided on a pasta dish with an herb gremolata.

Gremolata?! Yea, I wasn’t sure what it was at first either- it’s a condiment of chopped herbs, typically parslely, garlic and lemon zest. Since I marinated my meat with lots of rosemary and fresh thyme, I added those to my gremolata as well.

The short ribs were tender and all the fresh herbs lighten the whole dish for a great spring meal. My only complaint? The short ribs had a lot of fat on them, I would try it next time with a boneless chuck roast, cut into short rib size and cooked the same way.
Beautiful, isn’t it??

Braised Short Ribs

• 4.5-5 lbs. short ribs or 4 lbs. chuck roast
• 1 Tbsp fresh chopped rosemary
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme chopped
• olive oil
• 1 leek, chopped- white and green parts
• 6 cloves garlic
• 1 bottle of red wine, preferably Cabernet
• 1 qt beef stock
• S & P to taste

Trim short ribs and season with olive oil, salt, pepper and 1 Tbsp of rosemary and thyme, each. Let sit overnight. In a heavy bottomed pan heat 1 Tbsp olive oil and. Sear short ribs on all sides in batches, set aside. Add leeks and sauté for 8 minutes, until soft. Add garlic and cook for 30 minutes, until fragrant. Deglaze pan with the bottle of wine, cook for about 1 minute and add short ribs back to pan. Add beef stock as needed- you need just enough to cover the ribs. Cover the pot and place in the oven at 375 degrees for 3 hours until tender. Remove bones, shred meat and place on stove top to simmer for 30 minutes to reduce sauce. Toss with rigatoni and serve with gremolata and parmesan. If you cook it the day before, cook for only 2 hours, cool and refrigerate, scrape excess fat off the top- better for you! Then cook for 1 more hour in oven)

Herb Gremolata

• 1/8 cup Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 ½ Tbsp lemon zest
• 1 Tbsp fresh chopped rosemary
• 1 Tbsp fresh chopped thyme
• 1 tsp olive oil
• salt to taste

Mix the ingredients together and serve over pasta and short ribs.