Tomato Oxtail Stew
Rich tomato based sauce laced with depth, flavour and fall off the bone oxtails. Add whichever vegetables you fancy and serve with whichever starch you like, I decide on creamy parmesan polenta - perfection!
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Servings: 6 servings
Ingredients
Tomato Oxtail Stew
- 1.5-2 kg oxtail rinsed, see note 1
- 2 tsp fine sea salt or more to taste
- ½ tsp black pepper coarsely ground
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 medium onions finely diced
- 5 cloves confit garlic smashed, or regular garlic finely chopped see note 2
- 50 grams tomato paste
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme or dried
- 1-2 tbsp brown sugar treacle sugar or light brown
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- ¼ tsp ground white pepper
- 700g passata
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
Creamy Parmesan Polenta
- 1L/4 cups water
- 250ml/1 cup milk
- 3 tbsp butter
- 160g/2/3 cup dry polenta
- salt to taste
- 125ml/1/2 cup pouring cream
- 50g/1/2 cup parmesan
Instructions
Tomato Oxtail Stew
- Rinse the oxtail in water, drain and pat dry using kitchen towels. Season with 1 tsp fine sea salt tsp salt and 1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper.
- Bring a large Dutch oven to a medium heat. Once warm, add the oil and the seasoned oxtail. Brown the oxtail for 10-15 minutes, ensuring you brown each side thoroughly before turning. Set aside. Note: It's better to brown in batches than overcrowding the pot. You want to render most of the oxtail fat. Remove any excess fat before moving on to the next step - the rendered fat can be refrigerated and used in future recipes :)
- Add the diced onions and caramelize for 10 minutes on a medium heat. Once golden, add the mashed garlic confit or regular garlic, tomato paste, thyme, sugar, smoked paprika, white pepper and salt. Sauté for 2 minutes.
- Add the passata, refill with water and add to the passata, followed by red wine vinegar. Stir and add the browned oxtail and its juices. Cover and allow to simmer on a low-medium heat for for 3 1/2 - 4 hours, stirring occasionally. Simmer until the meat falls of the bone. Remove the lid during the last hour of cooking to reduce the sauce, if needed. Note: About 2 hours in you can add your vegetables of choice to the stew. Simmer - remember low and slow is your friend. Top up with a dash of water if the sauce is reducing too quickly (see recipe video).
- Meanwhile start preparing your starch of choice. Polenta takes around 30 minutes. In a medium saucepan, bring water, milk, salt and 1 tbsp butter to a boil. Gradually add polenta while whisking. Reduce the heat to a low simmer, cover and cook for 25-35 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Once it's thick and fluffy, remove from the heat and add in the remaining butter, grated parmesan and cream. Salt to taste and keep warm if the stew still needs to go a bit. Note: Add a dash of stock, water, or milk to loosen up the polenta seeing it continues to thicken as it cools down.
- Salt the stew to your taste, dish up, garnish with freshly chopped parsley and dig in! Note: removes excess oil by dipping a paper towel in the oil, it soaks it right up!
Video
Notes
Oxtail Weight & Cooking Time: there's enough sauce for 1.5-2kg's worth of raw oxtail. The more oxtail you add the more water you will need to add during the cooking process. The cooking time will also increase by 30mins-1 hour. You want there to be fat on the oxtail but not too much. Ensure you cut away any excess fat and discard or you could render the fat during the browning process and keep the rendered fat in a jar, in the fridge, to cook with in other dishes.
Confit Garlic: This will upgrade this stew instantaneously, it's crazy. Here's a recipe to make your own confit (it does take some time though). Quick method: cut off the top of a head of garlic, exposing the tips of the raw garlic. Coat in some oil and place in foil, close semi tightly and pop in a preheat air frier at 200C and cook for 20-30 mins or until golden and caramelized.