Short Ribs & Chocolate?!?!

You're probably wondering why short ribs and chocolate are combined together.  During this past Christmas Ryan and I decided to stay home and have a low key Christmas Day celebration together.  It took some time to decide what should we have for dinner that day?!?!  I personally wanted to have a beef tenderloin but didn't want to pay the price of it.  So we decided to just go to Publix and see what size tenderloins were available, when we saw that they were a bit to big we decided to try and find something else to make.  Not a second later Ryan spotted short ribs on sale and we decided to make the Short Ribs with Tagliatelle recipe by Giada De Laurentiis.  

Now the reason why chocolate is involved is because there is shaved chocolate on top of the short ribs and it definitely makes the dish really delicious and fabulous!!!  Here are some warnings when making this dish it does take a long time to cook because of the short ribs.  The short ribs itself take about three hours to make!  So start cooking early if you don't want to be eating really late!  You'll also need a food processor to combine some of the ingredients and I'm sure a blender would work as well but I have never tried using a blender.  One final thing since we was unable to find tagliatelle pasta we ended up buying linguine pasta which is just as yummy when combined with the short ribs!  Even it takes some time to cook this in the end it is worth it but I wouldn't suggest to having it frequently.  This is definitely a special occasion meal in my opinion.

Here is the recipe...

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 ounces chopped pancetta (about 1/2 cup)
• 2 1/2 pounds short ribs
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 (14-ounce) can tomatoes (whole or diced)
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 1/2 cups beef broth
• 3/4 cup red wine
• 1 pound fresh or dried tagliatelle
• 4 to 6 teaspoons shaved bittersweet chocolate

Directions:

Place the olive oil in a large heavy soup pot over medium heat. Cook the pancetta until golden and crisp, about 4 minutes. Meanwhile, season the short ribs with salt and pepper, and dredge in the flour. Using a slotted spoon, remove the pancetta from the pan and set aside. Add the short ribs to the pan and brown on all sides, about 7 minutes total.

Meanwhile, combine the onion, carrot, parsley and garlic in a food processor and blend until finely minced. Then add the tomatoes and tomato paste and pulse.

Once the short ribs are browned, carefully add the mixture from the food processor to the pot. Return the pancetta to the pot and stir. Add the rosemary, thyme, oregano, bay leaf, beef broth, and wine. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 1 hour and 15 minutes. 

Remove the lid and simmer for another hour and a half, stirring occasionally. Remove the meat and bones from the pot. Discard the bones. Shred the meat and return it to the pot. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper, or to taste.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes for dried pasta and 2 to 3 minutes for fresh. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Add the pasta to the pot and stir to combine. Add the reserved pasta liquid 1/4 cup at a time, if needed, to moisten the pasta. Transfer to serving bowls, top each bowl with 1 teaspoon of chocolate shavings. Serve immediately.