Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Beef Brisket Cherry Tomato Meat Sauce - Blending Low and Slow with Fresh and Fragrant

Pardon my Latin, but once in a while I like to shake up my meat sauce modus operandi, and this brightly colored beef brisket cherry tomato sauce recipe is an example. The video shows two major deviations to my usual ragu-how-to: I used beef brisket instead of chuck; and I used some fresh cherry tomatoes, instead of all canned product.

The result is a deeply flavored sauce, heavy with that specia
l beefiness that only a brisket can bring. Despite being such a slowly cooked dish, the fragrant cherry tomatoes give the sauce a surprisingly bright, fresh flavor and glow.

The brisket does take a long time to cook, but all that connective tissue adds a certain body that I love in a meat sauce. I cheated here with some additional boneless beef short rib meat I had on hand, so feel free to add any tough, stewing cuts of beef.

As I mentioned in the video, if you haven't seen how we finish our pasta recipes around here, click on some of the links you'll see below the post, or in the pasta category, and watch the last steps.

Sauces like this should never be ladled over drained pasta! You need to let the hot pasta absorb some of the sauce before serving – so check it out, and enjoy!




Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 1/2 pounds beef brisket, cubed
1 teaspoon salt
1 qt chicken broth
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 pint small, sweet cherry tomatoes
2 shallots, chopped
4-6 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3 1/2 cup prepared tomato sauce
2
tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 cup cream
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
hot red pepper flakes and/or cayenne to taste
1 pound penne pasta


37 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Chef John - this might sound crazy, but would a pork butt cut into cubes work here instead of brisket? Thanks!

Chef John said...

Yes! or lamb shank, or duck legs, or...

JimmerSD said...

Very nice John. And yes, there is a technique to combining sauce and pasta. I've tried to convince my wife of this fact...

greg said...

Hey Chef John, really like your camera work, nice angles, very aesthetic shots! You're getting quite technical :)

Chef John said...

thanks! im just paying attention to what the top dogs are doing ;-)

Khaddy said...

Ehy chef john could you please show us how to make classic lasagna or your version of healthier lasagna
thanks!

Chef John said...

it's on the list!

YankeeNaija said...

yum yum yum. and that is why you need to have your own show on foodnetwork.

rosemary said...

Yea babie!! I just bought FP+blender and cast iron pots!! Am so excited!!

Unknown said...

Hi Chef John,

Thanks for the recipe. I love all your recipes! I am curious about why we cannot use beef stock, can you please explain?

Chef John said...

i wish i could explain, but i can't. it just tastes better than with beef.

barbara said...

I love your stuff!!!
Is there any way to print the recipes so I don't have to go back to the den and see what step is next?
If it is already right in front of my face, be nice,I am new to you haha :)
Barbara

Chef John said...

no sorry, no formal written recipes... my available typing time is severely limited! ;-)

Asian Malaysian said...

I suppose that beef stock would be too rich and overwhelming for the flavour profile of the blended and unsauted cherry tomato mix? Sound credible enough?

Chef John said...

sounds right! :-)

Rita said...

thanks, chef!

barbara said...

ok, so when can we expect a cookbook ;)

Kath said...

Your video is fantastic, and this recipe looks amazing! Thanks so much.

Carina said...

Dear Chef John,

Thank you for such wonderful recipe again! They're fool proof and I got so many compliments when I brought these food to the table. The secret is really to make everything from scratch.. even the tomato paste. And of course, to choose chicken stock instead of beef broth :)

Thank you so much!

Anonymous said...

I made this recipe and left it in the fridge over night and the next day it tasted even MORE amazing. thanks chef.

Anonymous said...

Is it me or do you use more cherry tomatoes than what's on the listed ingredients. You mention both red and gold cherry tomatoes in the video, but just the sweet red ones in the list. Were you mentioning using either kind?

Chef John said...

Nope, i used one pint basket of mixed orange and red

Dan said...

Hi Chef John, we did the recipe exactly as you specified, and it turned out really salty. Who could the culprit be: the chicken broth? the tomato sauce? The tomato paste? Everything else was natural and we added no salt. Would do it again if we can solve the problem. Any suggestions?

Chef John said...

none of those on their own would make a big pot of food like that too salty I don't think. Did you add salt at any time?

Dan said...

No, no salt added at any time.

Chef John said...

then i'm stumped, must be the broth.

Tenshi said...

Made this tonight for my 1 year anniversary. It was EXCELLENT! My husband can't stop talking about how good it is. The brisket just falls to bits. I bought mine from Costco so it was actually 3.1 pounds instead of 2.5, but hey, just means more meat! It added a little bit to the cooking time I think, but was well worth it. Time consuming, but SO EASY. That browning trick was awesome! TONS of left-over sauce. Can't wait to use it again!

Chef John said...

Thanks!! It was our anniversary yesterday!

Anonymous said...

Hello chef!

I´m having 9 people over for dinner in a couple of weeks and I´m thinking about making this dish. Should I double/triple the amount of ingredints, or is it enough as it is? Also, is it ok to use fresh tagliatelle instead of penne?

Thank you for an awesome blog!
From a swedish fan :-)

Chef John said...

this recipe makes about 4 portions, but maybe stretch and double.

cookinmom said...

I have some flap steak...would that do? Anndddd, no cherry tomatoes around, can I use Marzano????

Chef John said...

yes to both

Unknown said...

can i do this with veal??? do i have to wait 2 hrs for it as well?

Unknown said...

Chef John,

I have a few odd requests.

Would you mind doing video about organizing kitchen?

What's the best way to prepare ingredients in a neat manner?

How do you minimize the amount of mess/dishes after cooking a meal?

Any tips about discarding the cooking oil?

Thank you for reading.

monita said...

I LOVE your recipes! Thank you so much! <3 from Norway

Unknown said...

You really think this recipe only makes four portions?? I just made it right to your specs and it was like 8 cups of sauce! I haven't even added the pasta yet

J. Whitman said...

This looks absolutely amazing! I wish I could find some Dallas bbq like that. Unfortunately, the barbeque near me is either subpar or always has a long wait. Not that I mind waiting, but perhaps I should work toward learning how to cook like my own bbq restaurant near me using techniques you have!