Bucatini Pasta with Short Ribs is a beautiful entree when tossed with a rustic marinara sauce and braised short ribs. Restaurant quality with capers and Pecorino-Romano cheese.
Here I go again, recreating dinner recipes that I’ve enjoyed at while dining out. This time it’s this pasta with short rib recipe that I enjoyed at North Italia Restaurant in Cherry Creek, Denver.
Lunch with girlfriends found us at this popular and highly touted Italian restaurant. It’s one of those menus that you simply can’t decide what to order … it all sounds so good. Italian cuisine, handmade from scratch, and as it’s decor dictates, a contemporary approach to modern Italian Cuisine.
After a long study, I finally decided that I couldn’t live without the Bucatini Pasta with short ribs. A bucatini pasta recipe drenched in a rustic red Italian sauce and tossed with braised short ribs and topped with a sprinkle of capers. Sold!
On my way home, I made the promise to myself that I would make this one at home. After all, I love braised short ribs and have made them several times. Easy.
Plus, I have a rustic Italian red sauce that I love …. done!
Whenever making my favorite Italian dishes, I always try to purchase quality Italian products. When I attended Culinary School they stocked a good supply of Cento products. I’ve gotten in the habit of grabbing these, the quality flavor will make those pasta sauces sing.
Recipe for Bucatini Pasta with Short Ribs
I hope you give this Bucatini Pasta with Short Ribs Recipe a try, and if you do, please come back and give the recipe a star rating and leave a message about your experience with the recipe.
And if you have a favorite pasta with short ribs recipe, let me know, I’d love to give it a try.
This recipe is one of those Italian pasta recipes that calls for a long slow cooking process. And the time taken is well worth it. If you want to short cut this recipe, use your favorite jarred pasta sauce.
I’ve also made this short rib pasta recipe by cooking the short ribs directly in the pasta sauce, instead of separately as the recipe calls for. This will require for an overnight stay in the refrigerator. Short ribs have a fair amount of fat. Refrigerating the sauce will allow you to easily strain off the hardened fat that rises to the top of the sauce.
Just remove the short ribs before you refrigerate the sauce and shred the meat. Set aside in a separate refrigerator container until you’re ready to reheat after straining the fat. Then just add the meat back into the pasta sauce and reheat stove top. Cook the Bucatini Pasta and then combine sauce and pasta.
More Pasta Recipes With Meat
And if you’re pasta crazed, don’t miss my Pasta Recipes Category. You’ll find the most popular pasta recipe on my site for Spicy Creamy Shrimp Pasta.
Bucatini Pasta with Short Ribs and Capers and Rustic Marinara Sauce
Ingredients
- For The Short Ribs
- 4 pounds short ribs Bone in
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- ½ sweet onion diced
- 3 cloves garlic smashed and chopped
- 2 cups beef broth
- 2 Tablespoons Worcestershire Sauce
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- For The Rustic Marinara Sauce
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 1 white onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 28 ounces San Marzano Tomatoes canned, undrained
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 3 ounces tomato paste
- ½ cup dry white wine
- ½ tablespoon dried oregano
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 ½ teaspoon fennel seed
- 1 bay leaves
- ½ cup freshly grated Pecorino-Romano cheese divided. Or Parmesan
- ¼ cup chopped fresh basil
- ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1 teaspoon cider vinegar
- ½ cup Capers drained but not rinsed
Instructions
- For The Braised Short Ribs
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Season all sides of the short ribs with salt and pepper.Heat a heavy, oven-safe pot over high heat. Add olive oil and allow to heat briefly. Sear short ribs in olive oil, about 1 minute per side.
- Remove the ribs from pot and set aside. Lower heat and add in onion. Saute 2 to 3 minutes. Add garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.
- Pour in beef broth and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a simmer. Add the browned short ribs.. Place a rosemary sprig on top of the ribs. Cover cook in oven for about 2.5 hours, until meat is tender.
- For the Rustic Marinara Sauce
- Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot over medium heat; cook and stir onions for 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant. About 1 minute.
- Add Marzano tomatoes, white wine, tomato paste, tomato sauce, oregano, salt, sugar, black pepper, red pepper flakes, fennel seed and bay leaf into onion mixture; reduce heat to low, cover Dutch oven, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until flavors blend, about 1 hour.
- Remove Dutch oven from heat. Stir in the vinegar. Add ½ cup Pecorino-Romano cheese, basil, and parsley into into sauce; stir until cheese melts, about 5 minutes. Discard bay leaves. Sprinkle remaining cheese over sauce when serving.
- To Finish The Dish
- Place short ribs on a cutting board and when cool enough, with two forks, remove meat from bones and shred.
- Cook Bucatini pasta according to package directions.
- Drain pasta and place in a large pasta bowl. With tongs, toss in the shredded beef, and add enough of the sauce to generously cover the pasta and meat. Add in the capers and toss gently. Sprinkle with more cheese.
Nutrition
Short Ribs with Pasta … It’s What’s for Dinner
Why Trust My Recipes? I am a Culinary School Graduate and a lifelong student of home cooking. I hope to inspire you try to cook as often as you can. I’ve been cooking for 50 years, and my recipes are tried and true tested and tested and then tested again before published. To read more take a look at my About Page.
Thank you for this recipe. I am making it in a pinch for tomorrow and serving it in addition to pizza. How many servings does it make?
Thank you.
I have this on my menu for this coming weekend. I am going to make some homemade bucatini pasta to go with it (I love making pasta). Can’t wait!
I thought pasta was a great side dish for this. Mine is angel hair with sauteed vegetables and lemon sauce. mmmmm
simple perfection!
I have yet to cook these ribs and in a sauce with pasta, they look scrumptious!
Thanks Joumana.
Mmm, this sounds good on a cool and rainy day here today!
I think you’re sending that cool rainy weather this way Karen. More comfort food in my future. 🙂
What a great idea! I love meat in pasta sauce and this sounds like such a delicious way to do that. This must smell heavenly while it’s cooking. I’ve never cooked with buccatini and I think it’s high time I changed that.
I make a recipe kind of like this from Lydia Bastianich that is made with pork countrystyle ribs and we LOVE it! I can only imagine how good this is with short ribs.
I wouldn’t mind hearing about the differences in the recipes…maybe I’ll Google it. I got this idea from restaurant and just crossed my fingers that it came out.
Larry said it all; have never thought of putting short ribs in Marinara…why not I’m wondering? Looks great and with our weather something I would love on one of these cool spring? nights.
Great idea LA – meat in marinara – why not short ribs? My mom made sauce with bacon all of the time. Did I say great idea?
Mmmmmmm…bacon sounds wonderful. I have actually made this twice, once with my favorite homemade marinara sauce (which wouldn’t qualify for “no recipe”) and once with jarred. Both really good. I got the idea from an upscale Denver restaurant.
Grass fed beef short ribs in the freezer – check. Homemade marinara sauce from last summer – check. Pasta – check. I’m making this on Sunday when I get back from BlogHer Food!!!
Michele, I got this idea from the restaurant North in Cherry Creek. It was wonderful there and wonderful at my kitchen table.
Hey – Nice blog, just looking around some blogs, seems a pretty nice platform you are using. I’m currently using Wordpress for a few of my sites but looking to change one of them over to a platform similar to yours as a trial run. Anything in particular you would recommend about it?
OMG – This is right up my alley. I love short ribs and capers. I must try this soon!!
I love anything and capers. Thanks Stephanie. 🙂
Really, Lea Ann, how easy is that?? Love recipes like this! Now, when winter comes around again, I will be making short ribs and have a lovely leftover dish I can make. Too hot down here now. 🙂
We’re still in the 30’s here and still craving soup.
YES PLEASE! NOW! Love it! Feel like I can taste it!
🙂
This sounds amazing! DH doesn’t like capers but I think he’s just going to have to deal with it–this sounds like tonight’s dinner to me!
Those little capers are very easy to pick out… 🙂
Delicious. No recipe is needed. Thanks.
Have a great weekend.
Velva
Wow. I think even *I* could do this!!