Sicilian Beef Ragout Recipe (2024)

This is the third time I have made this recipe. I followed the instructions and ingredients to a tee the first two times. Turned out great. Yesterday I substituted chicken and white wine. Wow it was every bit as good as the original. Heart healthy and tasty. Either way, highly recommend this recipe.

Lots of big, complex flavor that let the meat shine through - we loved it! The roasted Roma tomatoes were an eyeopener, too: They were sort of tasteless and I didn't have a lot of hope for them, but they were transformed into something rich and sweet. So now I know what to do when that's all that's in the market.

From Florence: It can be served in or on whatever dish makes you happy. As for an accompanying starch, I would serve it, if you wish, alongside, not underneath. But no starch is fine, too. Maybe roasted cauliflower instead?

Does anyone know how to adapt this for an Instant Pot?

The dish was very flavorful and the house was filled with the most wonderful aroma while it was cooking. However, I felt the cooking time was too short. I'm cooking at 5000' elevation so I added 1/2 hour to the cooking time and increased the oven temp to 325, but it still wasn't enough. When I make this again I will significantly increase the cooking time for the stew and put the tomatoes in when there are two hours to go.

Pat A: You’ve got a fennel bulb. Anise is an alternate name. I sometimes find those big Sicilian green olives at a grocery that has an olive bar (if there’s one near you). Castelvetrano olives are also from Sicily, but I’d sub in Spanish green olives if that’s what you can find.

Made this for a family gathering and it was gone in no time. Great tastes and so easy to prepare for a crowd.

This is a "go to" recipe for dinner parties, relatives and my stepson. It's his favorite. I make it with short ribs and usually braise for 3 not 2 hours. Tonight, for the first time, I am serving it with polenta as the "starch". It's even better the next day.

Made it on a Sunday. My French butcher gave me "basses côtes" and they were wonderful: full of flavor and (after long cooking and a 2-day stint in the fridge) tender but not flaccid. Made tomatoes on serving day, Tuesday. This will be a go-to main for mid-week dinners with friends.

Rated best new recipe in the last six months in our house. I followed these directions but used dried thyme and rosemary. Also, adopted a recommendation from Martha Stewart to add some orange peels to the pot which I removed before serving.
Excellent!

I agree with you Es, the is the best beef stew I have ever made. At first I hesitated when it called for 12 tomatoes, quartered - seemed excessive - but all 48 pieces are necessary as each bite is perfectly balanced with its own slice of this roasted red fruit... I added more fennel (2x) to the recipe and I think it gave the sauce a thicker texture - next time I might add both more leeks and fennel. This stew will certainly become a weekend staple...

This was superb. My only modification was to cut back the red pepper flakes to 1/2 tsp, and to let the meat go for 2-1/2 hours in the oven. I did reduce the sauce a little bit (with solids removed) and kept the tomatoes separate from the stew until serving time. Rewarmed the stew in the oven, laid the roasted tomatoes on top, and let it all rewarm a bit more in the oven another few minutes. Served with Florence Fabricant's Potato Torte on this site, and sauteed green beans.

Too much heat - overpowers the other flavors. Dial it way back.

This was amazingly good.I prepared it yesterday and served it today as suggested and served it with the potato kugel recipe from Francis Lam on the NYT website. This may be the best beef stew I've ever made. It may be that the olives added a complexity; it may have been the vegetable mix ( of which I couldn't discern individual flavors), but whatever, it was truly wonderfully fragrant. The meat was very tender, the tomatoes in winter are remarkable like this.
Thanks, Florence

Cooked for about 2:30 to 2:45 hours after reading notes and cooked the tomatoes for the last two hours. Didn't change another thing and it was perfect. The chuck steak that I used broke down beautifully--no knife needed. Served with fresh sourdough bread. No need for anything else.

Wonderful! Especially on a cold, rainy night.

Can’t figure out what I did wrong here but I ended up with virtually no sauce and a (nearly) burned casserole pot. I’ll make a main but triple the stock.

Sooooo good. I like to use a little extra of everything in this. But the recipe as is, is superb. Have bread, polenta or pasta ready to soak up the juices/sauce.

Has anyone cut the ratios in half? Anything to note or edit?

Just as great as everyone mentioned! Family loved it. Next time I won’t add any additional salt, as the olives provided enough for our liking. Will add this to my fall time repertoire. 😋

Everyone be careful with your cookware. I probably shouldve done some more research but putting my 100% ovenproof dish over a burner on medium high resulted in shattered La Creuset enamel. "Roasting pan" and "casserole" are that different I guess.

The meat turned out absolutely delicious. I used Campari tomatoes as the plum tomatoes at the grocery store were not ripe (or even very red at this time of year). Please learn from my mistake. They were completely incinerated and I put them in the oven 1/2 hour after the meat. Next time I’ll use plum tomatoes or roast the tomatoes for less time. I did increase the cook time of the meat to 2 1/2 hours from other posts.

Recommend making the day before and placing in the fridge to let the fat solidify. Scoop it off before reheating for a delicious, beefy, non-greasy ragout.

After the beef was cooked, I removed it from the pan then added a small can of chopped tomatoes. We served fresh pasta tossed with olive oil, garlic and parmesan, topped it with the beef, then spooned sauce sparingly on top. Fantastic.

Wow!!! So amazing! Made for Christmas Eve dinner and everyone loved. We’re at altitude so cooked the thing for 4.5 hours, checking every hour or so after the first two. Meat was tender and the fennel/leeks etc melted together into a glorious sauce. Prepping everything the night before was essential.

Oh wow, was this ever good. I love spice but sort of agree with other commenters: a little less might be fine here, but I suppose it depends on your chili flakes. Served it with egg noodles tossed in olive oil and a big salad--what a mid-winter treat!

Anyone ever make this with a shoulder roast? What I thought was a chuck roast in my freezer is not.

I scaled this to 2lbs of beef and 8 small Roma tomatoes, since there are only 2 of us (made 4 servings). I kept the other proportions the same. I did add the orange peel and cut back on the red pepper flakes. It was done in 2 hours, but it was Wagyu stew meat (sale!). Nice to garnish with a couple roughly chopped olives and fresh herbs as pictured.

Whenever the chuck roasts go on sale at the grocery, I snatch one, then head straight for this recipe which in our opinion, remains one of the best in the NYT’s entire collection! Don’t change a thing to the recipe, I follow exactly as written. Superb every time. Thanks NYT!