You Can Take It With You

Why take that (improved but still) nasty freeze-dried food in your backpack when you can cook up a batch of short rib sugo, put it in a ziplock bag and bring some pasta to cook on your campstove? Contributor Jim Dixon of RealGoodFood shares his recipe for this great dish:

For the past couple of decades I’ve spent the Father’s Day weekend with a group of old friends camping on the beach of Bachelor Island, on the Columbia a few miles downstream of its confluence with the Willamette. We eat, drink, tell the same stories again and play beach bocce.

Cooking for a group usually involves pasta, and I made a fairly simple sauce using beef short ribs.

Short Rib Sugo

In a good-sized pot (I use a cast iron Dutch oven), brown about a pound and half of short ribs in a little olive oil. Add some salt, an onion, some celery, and carrot, all chopped into medium dice, and cook for a few more minutes.

Add about a half bottle of decent red wine, a shot of espresso (or half cup of strong coffee), cover, and stick into a 200° oven for about 3 hours.

Remove the short ribs from the pot, let cool, and pick the meat off the bones. You can reduce the braising liquid if you like, but it’s not absolutely necessary. Chop the meat coarsely and return to the pot, adding a large can of ground or diced tomatoes. Simmer for another 20 minutes or so, adjusting the salt if necessary.

Use 100% semolina pasta and don’t overcook it. We used farfalle, but any extruded shape will work. Stir some of the sugo into the cooked pasta, toss with fresh arugula if you like, and serve with grated Parmigiano.