This recipe pays homage to my all-time favourite restaurant. My grandparents live in New York, and when I visit them, one of our favourite pass-times is over-eating in all of our favourite restaurants. Just a short trip up the Hudson River, and we arrive at my personal favourite. X2O on the Hudson. I don’t necessarily class myself as the most adventurous eater, and every single time I go to this restaurant, the menu seems to have changed. I’m always disappointed that my favourite dish has vanished. I’m convinced that whatever I get won’t be as good as the last thing I had there. And every time, I am shocked to discover a new favourite. You’d think I’d have learned to trust the chefs by now.
However, if I had to pick one that trumps all the rest, it would be their beef short rib ravioli. It is to this day possibly the best meal I’ve ever eaten. I was determined to try and recreate it. I don’t pretend that my version even comes close to the perfection of Xaviers at his New York restaurant, but I do think it was delicious. If it is even half as good as the original, it’s worth it.
This isn’t a quick dish. It probably involves making your own pasta, as you can’t use dried pasta for ravioli because it needs to be shaped. If you need an easy pasta recipe, try this one. Then the beef needs to be gently slow cooked for 3 hours to make it beautiful and tender. None of it is particularly difficult, there are just quite a few steps.
There are also a few obscure ingredients, but I implore you to seek them out as they really make the dish. The pasta is coated in a browned butter sauce infused with truffle oil. I don’t doubt the truffle oil used at X2O is of the highest quality, but here in lockdown, my options were limited. I had to make do with a £2.50 bottle of Morrisons Truffle infused Olive Oil. It tasted pretty good though, so no complaints there. The dish is also topped with crushed amaretti biscuits. These Italian biscuits are made from almonds and have a sweet nutty flavour. The hint of sweetness just pairs so well with the flavours of the beef and truffle, it really is essential. You can usually find these biscuits on the regular biscuit aisle of shops, but you might just have to search a little.
I guarantee if you find the right ingredients, and invest the time and care to make this Beef Short Rib Ravioli, you will reap the rewards.
Beef Short Rib Ravioli with Browned Butter Truffle Sauce
Ingredients
- 600 g bone-in beef short rib
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1½ cups beef stock
- 1 tbsp mustard
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar
- 2 tsp dried thyme
- ¼ cup breadcrumbs
- 1 small onion
- 1 tsp Worcester sauce
- ¼ cup port
- 1 bay leaf
- 20 g fresh parsley (plus a little extra to garnish)
To assemble
- 600 g fresh pasta dough
- 25 g amaretti biscuits (for topping)
- 50 g salted butter
- 2 tbsp truffle infused olive oil
- 1 egg
Instructions
- In a large pan, heat the olive oil and brown the beef. Flip it over after a few minutes so each side is evenly browned. Remove from the pan.
- Finely chop the onions and the garlic. Cook the onions in the pan that had the beef in for around 10 minutes, until brown. Add the garlic and cook for another few minutes.
- Add the port, mustard, Worcester sauce, and 1 cup of the stock. Stir on a low heat for a few minutes and mix together.
- Remove the pan from the heat and pour the mixture into an oven save dish with a lid. Place the beef short ribs into the liquid. Sprinkle the dried thyme over them, and add the bay leaf. Season with a little salt and pepper.
- Place the lid on the pan and put in the oven for 3 hours. Halfway through, take out of the oven and spoon some of the liquid over the beef. If it looks dry, add a little water.
- After 3 hours, the beef should be tender and fall away from the bone. If it isn’t tender, Turn the oven down to 150C and cook for another half hour or so. Once cooked, remove from the oven and place the short ribs on a large plate. Remove the bones, and then using two forks, shred the beef into smaller pieces.
- To a food processor, add the beef, any onions that were at the bottom of the cooking dish, the breadcrumbs, the vinegar and the fresh parsley. Pulse a few times until the mixture comes together. Don't over blend, or the beef will lose it's texture. The mixture needs to be just together, but not liquified. If it looks too dry, add a little of the beef stock mixture.
- Roll the pasta dough as thinly as possible and cut into 4 inch strips. Flour a surface well before assembling the ravioli or it will stick. Spoon 1tsp sized balls of the beef mixture onto one dough strip, leaving an inch or so in between each one.
- Brush around the edges of the pasta and in between the beef with a beaten egg. Then place another strip on top of the pasta and the beef. Using your fingers, gently push the down the pasta sheet around the beef clumps, being sure to push any air out. Make sure each parcel is sealed all the way round.
- With a pizza cutter or a sharp knife, trim the edges of the pasta and in between each ravioli to make little squares. Pick each one up to ensure it isn‘t stuck to the surface, and add more flour if you need to. Crimp each edge of the ravioli with a fork to seal properly.
- Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper and lots of flour until ready to cook.
- Meanwhile, to make the sauce, melt the butter in a pan. Keep heating and stirring until the butter turns frothy and goes brown. Add the truffle oil and remove from the heat.
- To cook the ravioli, heat a large sauce pan with salted water until it is boiling. Add the ravioli, abour 5 at a time, and cook for 3-4 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and place in the pan with the butter.
- Toss the ravioli pieces to coat with the butter sauce, then serve on a plate. Crush the amaretti biscuits with your fingers over the top of the dish, and add some fresh parsley to garnish.
Method in Pictures
Gather your ingredients
And for the browned butter truffle sauce
In a little oil, brown the beef in a pan for a few minutes
