Beef Ragù over Polenta

A comforting bowl of rich beef ragù over soft, cheesy polenta. Freeze the ragù and make quick polenta fresh at serving.

Ingredients

Ragù

• 1½ lb ground beef (or beef chuck, diced)
• 1 onion, 1 carrot, 2 celery stalks, diced
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup beef broth or red wine
• 1 tsp oregano, salt, pepper

Polenta

• 1 cup polenta
• 4 cups broth or water
• ½ cup grated parmesan
• 2 tbsp butter

Instructions

1. Brown the beef with the vegetables and garlic. Stir in the tomato paste, then add the crushed tomatoes, broth, and oregano. Simmer 1–1.5 hours until rich.
2. For the polenta, whisk it into simmering broth and cook, stirring, until thick and creamy, ~20 minutes. Stir in the parmesan and butter.
3. Spoon the ragù over the polenta.

Make-Ahead & Storage

Freeze the ragù up to 3 months; vacuum-seals well. Polenta is quick, so make it fresh — or freeze cooked polenta in a slab and pan-fry it.

Notes

The ragù is essentially the bolognese with a coarser texture — use that batch if you have it. A parmesan rind in the ragù adds depth.