Pimentón & Caraway Short Ribs With Egg Noodles

From Canal House Cooks Every Day

From Canal House Cooks Every Day by Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer. Reprinted with permission by Andrews McMeel Publishing. Copyright 2012. Photograph by Christopher Hirsheimer.

• Servings: 4 to 6.

This recipe is from Canal House Cooks Every Day, written by Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton, with photos by Ms. Hirsheimer and illustrations by Ms. Hamilton.  It is provided here exactly as written by its authors:

On cold, dreary winter days, the first thing we do when we get to the studio is make a fire in the little Franklin stove to warm the place up. Then we’ll make a pot of something like these short ribs, which need to braise in the oven a long time to make them tender. The payoff is threefold: The oven helps warm up the space; the room is filled with the aroma of delicious cooking; and we’ve got something to eat by lunchtime. It’s a win, win, win.

Ingredients

• 4 pounds meaty short ribs
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 large onions, thickly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 2 tablespoons pimentón
• 2 teaspoons caraway seeds
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 1/2 pound egg noodles
• 1 to 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
• Salt

Directions

1. For the short ribs, preheat the oven to 300°. Season the short ribs all over with the salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large enameled cast-iron or other heavy ovenproof pot with a lid over medium-high heat.
2. Working in batches, add the short ribs and brown all over, about 5 minutes per batch. Transfer the short ribs to a plate as they brown.
3. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the onions, garlic, pimentón, and caraway seeds to the pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions have softened, about 15 minutes.
4. Push the onions and garlic to the side of the pot. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until it turns a shade darker, 1–2 minutes. Stir the onions and tomato paste together. Return the short ribs, along with any accumulated juices, to the pot. Add the wine and enough water so that the meat is half-submerged. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a simmer.
5. Cover the pot and braise the short ribs in the oven until the meat is fork-tender, about 3 hours. Remove the pot from the oven. Skim off the fat from the sauce. (If making this ahead of time, remove the short ribs from the pot and chill the sauce to make removing the fat easier.)
6. For the noodles, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook until tender. Drain the noodles, then return them to the pot. Stir in the butter and parsley, adding a splash of water, if needed. Season with salt.
7. To serve, arrange the short ribs and sauce on a platter and serve with the buttered noodles.

A note from The City Cook: Pimentón is a smoky Spanish paprika. It can usually be found in the spice department of most markets or purchase it from a specialty spice store.