Caramelized Onion Tagliatelle with Braised Beef Ragu
Homemade thick tagliatelle noodles infused with the deep flavors of caramelized onion. I have the homemade pasta bug right now and have a bunch of recipes planned between now and the end of the year!
The inspiration for this recipe
This caramelized onion infused tagliatelle idea came to me recently when I was trying to brainstorm things that could be mixed into pasta. I find that the usual spinach or tomato paste don’t really come through in the final product. Even squid ink is more about the color than the flavor, but at least you can taste it. I wanted this pasta to pack a caramelized onion punch and in the end I think it really did. It really deepens the flavors of this dish that has an already deeply flavored sauce.
Speaking of which, for the sauce I just threw some beef in the oven with crushed tomatoes and let it do it’s thing for a while, then finished it with cream and parm. I thought the shredded meat really worked well with the caramelized onion pasta.
Caramelizing the onions
So many onions. I love a good before and after when cooking onions. You need to caramelize these onions down quite a bit so they dissolve into the tagliatelle. I do it low and slow with some butter and stir it often.
Caramelized onion paste
Blend up the caramelized onions with an egg. Mix it with the flour to form the pasta dough.
Caramelized onion tagliatelle dough
It has a nice brown color with a few small flecks that didn’t fully blend. The flecks give it a nice pattern.
I rolled this one out by hand which I rarely do, normally I use the pasta roller. You can do either way. If you have never made homemade pasta before, this is a great guide.
This caramelized onion tagliatelle came out stunningly beautiful! Pasta making is a really therapeutic activity for me and it’s always beautiful in my eyes.
Serving the caramelized onion tagliatelle with braised beef
Cook the pasta in some boiling water and then add it right to the pan with the sauce. Then serve with some chives! The fresh chives balance with the cooked onions so well.
The texture of this caramelized onion tagliatelle was so perfect even as thick as I made it. It had a soft almost bready texture to me, while still feeling like pasta. It matched great with the creamy sauce and chunks of shreddy beef. I also love a thick noodle for a heavy flavorful sauce like this.
So good!
Twists on this dish
You could serve this caramelized onion tagliatelle with any sauce you want. A simple cream sauce would also be great!
If you are looking for more recipes with handmade pasta, check out my pork and coconut tagliatelle, or this cincinnati chili ravioli.
Caramelized Onion Tagliatelle with Braised Beef Ragu
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 large yellow onions diced
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 egg
- 3 cups flour
- 1/2 pound chuck roast cut into 1 inch cubes
- 1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/4 cup grated parm
- chopped chives for garnish
Instructions
- Cook the onions with the butter and some salt in a large frying pan on medium heat stirring often until dark brown, about 45 minutes. You will end up with about a cup of onions.
- in a blender or with a hand blender, puree the onions with the egg. Make sure they are cooled so the egg doesn’t cook. My food processor wasn’t able to truly blend this the way I wanted but the hand blender did a great job.
- Mix this onion paste in with the flour until it forms a dough. Add more flour if needed, it should be a stiff dough. Cover and allow to rest in the fridge for about a half hour.
- Roll out the dough with a pasta machine or a rolling pin to a medium thickness. Cut into 1/2 inch wide noodles with a knife.
- Preheat oven to 300.
- Put the beef, tomatoes, vinegar, garlic, and oregano in a baking dish with some salt. Bake for about 4 hours until the meat is tender and falling apart. Stir it a few times during the process.
- Transfer to the stovetop and shred up all the meat. I used a potato masher. Add in the cream and parm and stir to combine. Put it over low heat.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the noodles about 3-5 minutes to desired texture. Fresh pasta can go quick but I left these a little thick.
- Transfer the noodles directly into the sauce and stir to combine. Serve with the chives on top.
I LOVE making homemade pasta. It is truly so relaxing. This dish looks amazing!