Oxtail Pasta

A simple dish that actually takes a lot of work! The first time I had this was at Zafferano, London, one of my favorite Italian restaurants. The pasta I had there was actually made from ox cheek, but I thought the texture of it was quite similar to oxtail (deboned of course!), so I decided to try it. It turned out really good, with a light tomato base, the oxtail balanced the al dente pasta perfectly. Sprinkle some Parmesan cheese and you have a hearty meal. Here's how I did it:

 

1. put oxtail in pot with water

 

2. bring it to the boil, simmer for 3 minutes

 

3. remove the water

 

4. add garlic and tomatoes (you can use canned tomatoes), top up with some red wine

 

5. add salt and pepper (add a squeeze of lemon +/- zest, this is optional!)

 

6. slow braise the oxtail for a couple of hours

 

7. take out the oxtail and separate the meat from the bones

 

8. condense the tomato base until it is slightly dense (it will be diluted once mixed with the pasta later)

 

9. add the oxtail meat back into the tomato base

 

10. add final touch of tomato concentrate if needed for extra flavor

 

11. final seasoning with salt and pepper

 

12. now your tomato oxtail base is ready

 

13. boil the pasta to al dente

 

14. remove pasta and drain excess water

 

15. add pasta to tomato oxtail base

 

16. serve! (Parmesan cheese at the table!)

 

Done