Short ribs are my favorite cut of beef as they are always amazingly tender and flavorful. They are kind of a special occasion or Sunday night dinner kind of food in my mind. They are best cooked slow over a longer time frame so that also makes them a good weekend meal. You can smell them cooking and it is the best!
This recipe braises the short ribs in red wine, beef stock, garlic, Worcestershire, Dijon, and a little tomato paste. The sauce has a nice, deep flavor and it pairs soooo well with both the polenta and the gorgonzola here. I will definitely make short ribs this way again. You can buy a tube of polenta, which cuts so easily into these medallions so that part took about 5 minutes. If you can’t find the tube, you can also make regular polenta first, let it cool and set an then cut out circles with a cutter. The tube is way easier though! Enjoy. 🙂
Wine Braised Short Ribs with Gorgonzola Polenta Medallions
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 lbs boneless short ribs cut into large chunks and trimmed
- 1-2 tsp salt to taste
- freshly ground pepper
- 1/2 cup carrots diced
- 2 shallots peeled and minced
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 cups dry red wine I used a cabernet
- 2 cups beef stock
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp dried thyme
To serve:
- gorgonzola crumbles
- polenta medallions
- oil spray or olive oil
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 325. In a large dutch oven, heat the olive oil over high heat. Season the trimmed and cut short ribs with salt and pepper and brown them until well browned on one side, then stir and brown the other sides. After the meat is nicely browned, remove it to a plate .
- Reduce heat to medium and add another tbsp oil to the pan. Add the carrot and shallot to the pan, stirring a few times. Add the tomato paste, garlic, thyme, onion powder, garlic powder, and stir. Sprinkle the flour over the veggies and stir. Slowly add the wine to deglaze the pan and bring to a boil. Add the meat back in as well as the beef broth, Worcestershire and Dijon. Taste the broth and adjust the seasoning with more salt if needed. Bring to a boil and cover.
- Transfer to the oven and bake for 2-2.5 hours or until the short ribs are full tender and the gravy is thick. You can add more broth if needed during cooking if the pan is getting too dry. You can also move the pot to the stove top over high to reduce the gravy more if needed once the ribs are tender.
- If you are using a tube of polenta, preheat the oven to 450 and line a baking sheet with parchment sprayed with cooking spray. Cut the polenta into thick medallions about 1.5-2 inches thick and place on the baking sheet. Top with gorgonzola and cook for about 10 minutes until hot and the cheese is browning. If you are using dry polenta, cook according to package and allow to cool and set, then cut out circles and follow this process.
- Plate the polenta and top with short ribs and gravy, then another bit of crumbled gorgonzola.