Beef Pasta with Beets and Gorgonzola

Three hours and forty minutes total, but most of it’s the oven doing the work. You brown the meat, build the sauce, and then you’re kind of done until it’s time to eat. Beef chuck gets soft and the beets turn sweet and the whole thing tastes like you’ve been thinking about it for days.

Why You’ll Love This Beef Pasta

Takes most of the afternoon, but you’re maybe 20 minutes into it when it matters. Rest of the time the slow cooker’s basically running the show.

Beets in here — sounds weird. Not weird. They get soft and sweet and the color bleeds into everything. Makes it look like something you’d eat at a restaurant.

Gorgonzola melts into the warm pasta. You don’t need much. The cheese does the thing.

Pancetta on top gets actually crispy. Texture you don’t usually get in something this heavy. Worth the extra step.

Cold leftovers work. Reheats better than the first night, somehow.

What You Need for Beef Ragout with Red Wine and Beets

Beef chuck. Not sirloin. Chuck has fat running through it. That’s what makes it soft after hours in the oven. Trim the worst parts but don’t go crazy.

Olive oil. Regular stuff. Not the expensive kind. You’re cooking hot and fast here.

Onions — small ones. Chop them fine. They disappear into the sauce. Garlic goes the same way.

Red wine. Something you’d drink. Not good wine. Just don’t use the stuff that costs $5 a bottle and tastes like broken promises. A decent mid-range red works. It reduces down and gets dark and sweet.

Beef stock. Homemade if you have it. Store-bought’s fine. Just not the bouillon cubes version.

Beets are the thing here. They take longer than you think to get soft. Peel them raw, cube them, let them sit in the oven for two and a half hours with everything else. They get dense and earthy and sweet all at once.

Pancetta — thin slices. Bacon works if you can’t find it. Flavor’s slightly different but close enough.

Whole wheat penne. Texture matters more with the beets. Regular pasta gets mushy.

Gorgonzola’s creamy and blue and salty. Doesn’t take much. A handful, crumbled. You could use another blue cheese. Stilton works. Roquefort’s too aggressive.

Bay leaf. Thyme. Salt. Pepper. That’s the backbone.

How to Make Slow Cooked Beef Penne

Get your oven to 160 Celsius first. Middle rack. Let it sit there while you do everything else.

Half the oil goes in a heavy pot — something with a lid, something that can go in the oven. Get it hot. Medium-high. You’re not messing around.

Half the beef goes in. Don’t crowd it. You want a crust. Let each piece sit for three or four minutes before you move it. Salt and pepper as it hits the pan. The crust matters. Transfer to a plate when it’s brown all over.

Do the rest of the beef the same way. Takes another three or four minutes. It looks dry now but it’s not.

Lower the heat. Onions and garlic go in next. Stir them around until they go glossy and start to soften — six minutes, maybe seven. Add the thyme and bay leaf. Let it smell like something.

Red wine goes in now. Pour it around, scrape the brown bits off the bottom with a wooden spoon. They taste like the best part of the beef. Let the wine bubble and reduce. It should go from sharp to slightly sweet. Takes about eight minutes. The liquid gets thick and glossy.

Beef goes back in. Stock goes in. Beets go in. Stir it once. Bring it just to a boil — you’re not trying to make soup, just get everything warm enough to move to the oven.

Cover it. Into the oven. Two hours and forty minutes from here.

How to Get Beef Ragout with Red Wine and Beets Tender

Don’t open it for the first two hours. Just leave it.

At two hours and thirty minutes, pull it out and check one piece of beef. It should fall apart when you push it with a spoon. Beets should be soft but not mushed. If the beef’s still tough, give it another ten minutes. Beets take longer than you think — don’t pull it out just because the meat’s done.

When it’s ready, take it out. Leave the oven on but bump the temperature up to 200 Celsius.

Pancetta goes on a baking sheet on its own. Single layer. Ten minutes at the higher temperature. It’ll come out crisp and not charred if you watch it. Drain it on paper towels after.

Pasta cooks in another pot with salted water — big pot, lots of water, salt it like the sea. Whole wheat takes about six to eight minutes to get al dente. Don’t overcook it. Scoop out a mug of pasta water before you drain everything.

Combine the pasta and the ragout in the pot the ragout was in. Add the pasta water a little at a time — the sauce might be too thick, might need loosening. Stir gently. You want the sauce to coat the pasta, not drown it. Taste it now. Salt and pepper until it tastes right.

Beef Pasta Tips and Common Mistakes

Don’t skip browning the beef. The crust is where the flavor lives. If you rush it or crowd the pan, you steam it instead of searing it. Neither of those things works.

Wine reduction matters too. It’s not just liquid — it’s the sharpness turning into sweetness. Eight minutes minimum. Sometimes ten.

The beets look done before they actually are. They’re hard inside when they look soft outside. That’s why the two hours forty is there. Don’t shorten it.

Pancetta texture goes away if you let it sit in the pot. That’s why it goes on top at the end, crispy, not mixed in. Crispy matters here.

Pasta water — don’t throw it out. It’s starchy and it helps the sauce grip. Add it slowly though. One scoop, stir, see if you need more. You can add more but you can’t take it back.

Gorgonzola’s salty. Taste before you salt. Pancetta’s salty too. Both of them sitting on top. Easy to go over.

Beef Pasta with Beets and Gorgonzola

By Emma

Prep:

30 min

Cook:

3h 10min

Total:

3h 40min

Servings:

4 servings

Ingredients

• 500 g beef chuck roast, trimmed and cut into chunks
• 25 ml olive oil
• 2 small onions, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 10 ml fresh thyme leaves
• 450 ml dry red wine
• 900 ml beef stock
• 2 large beets, peeled and cubed
• 8 thin slices pancetta
• 400 g whole wheat penne
• 120 g creamy gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
• 1 bay leaf
• fresh cracked black pepper
• salt

Method

1. 1 Set oven rack to middle. Preheat oven to 160 °C (325 °F).
2. 2 Heat half oil in heavy ovenproof pot over medium-high. Brown half beef chunks until deep seared crust forms, 3-4 minutes per batch. Salt and pepper generously. Transfer meat to plate. Repeat with rest.
3. 3 Lower heat to medium. Add onions and garlic to fat. Stir until onions turn glossy and translucent, roughly 6 minutes. Add thyme and bay leaf. Pour in red wine; scrape browned bits from bottom. Let wine reduce by half, thickens glossy, about 8 minutes.
4. 4 Return beef to pot. Pour in beef stock and add cubed beets. Bring mixture just to boil. Cover and transfer to oven.
5. 5 Cook for about 2 hrs 40 minutes. Check beef tenderness at 2 hrs 30 mins; meat should be fork-tender, beets soft but hold shape.
6. 6 Increase oven temp to 200 °C (400 °F). Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
7. 7 Spread pancetta slices single layer on sheet. Roast 10 minutes until crisp but not burnt. Remove; drain on paper towels.
8. 8 Meanwhile, cook penne in large pot salted boiling water. Follow packet al dente timing, usually 6-8 minutes for whole wheat. Scoop out 150 ml pasta water before draining.
9. 9 Remove bay leaf from ragout; discard. Fold penne into ragout gently. Add pasta water gradually, stirring, to loosen sauce if too thick. Adjust salt and pepper. Sauce should cling but not drown pasta.
10. 10 Serve in warm shallow bowls. Scatter pancetta shards and crumble blue cheese on top. Cheese melts slightly from pasta heat. Dabble with extra pepper if desired.

Nutritional information

Calories

680

Protein

42g

Carbs

65g

Fat

28g

Print Recipe Save to Pinterest

Frequently Asked Questions About Beef Ragout Recipe with Beets and Red Wine

Can I make this in a slow cooker instead of the oven? Yeah. Brown the beef the same way. Build the sauce. Put everything in on low for six to eight hours. Beets take forever in a slow cooker but that’s actually fine — low heat for longer turns them sweet. Check the beef at six hours though. Some slow cookers run hot.

What if I don’t have red wine? Don’t use white. Use beef stock or water and add a tablespoon of vinegar instead. It’s not the same but it works. Not as dark, not as sweet, but it cooks.

Can I prep this the day before? Brown the meat and build the sauce the night before. Refrigerate it. Add beets in the morning and go. Beets release liquid and turn everything softer than you might want if they sit overnight raw.

Do I have to use beets? They’re kind of the point here. If you hate beets, use mushrooms or carrots. Mushrooms get soft and dark and earthy. Carrots stay firmer. Not quite the same thing.

How long does it keep? Three or four days in the fridge. Reheats better than it eats fresh, honestly. Something about sitting overnight makes the sauce thicker and richer. Freeze it too — up to two months. Just leave out the pasta when you freeze and add fresh pasta when you reheat.

Can I use a different cheese? Gorgonzola’s creamy and sharp. Stilton works the same way. Roquefort’s too intense. Regular blue cheese is fine if it’s all you have. Don’t use mild stuff. You need something with actual flavor to cut through the beef.