Slow cooked beef short ribs in red wine sauce

In a large pot, heat half of the olive oil over medium heat. Cook the beef short ribs, in batches, turning, until browned all over. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Place the large pot back onto medium heat. Add the remaining olive oil, shallots, garlic, carrots, celery, bay leaf and thyme. Cook for 3 minutes, continually stirring until the vegetables have softened. Return the beef short ribs to the pot. Add the red wine to deglaze the pot, continually stirring and scraping up the bits at the bottom. .Add the beef stock and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low.

Baste the beef short ribs now and then and allow to gently simmer, covered, for a further 3 hours or until the beef is tender and falling off the bone.

Remove the beef from the pot. Increase to medium-high heat and reduce the cooking liquid until it reaches a thick and rich gravy consistency (approximately 20 minutes). Strain the sauce through a sieve into a gravy boat, using the back of the ladle to extract as much flavour as possible.

Serve the beef short ribs with Creamy mashed potato and gravy – buon appetito.