Stranger Foods

Braised beef short ribs with butter beans and figs

Serves 4 | Prep 30 mins | Cook 3 hr 50 mins

This is a braise for the winter months, when fall-off-the-bone ribs and warming spices are what you’re craving. Don’t be intimidated by the long cooking time here – it’s mostly a waiting game once the pot goes into the oven, so it can easily be put together in the afternoon, ready for a decadent dinner.

Source: Ottolenghi Test Kitchen: Shelf Love

Ingredients

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2 onions, roughly chopped
6 cloves garlic, peeled
4 cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
2 green chillies, roughly chopped, seeds and all
6 beef short ribs (1.5 kg)
60 ml olive oil
4 whole star anise
10 cardamom pods, roughly bashed open with a pestle and mortar
1½ tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp ground allspice
2 tsp ground cumin
5 large plum tomatoes, two-thirds roughly chopped, and the rest roughly grated, and skins discarded
100 g soft dried figs, roughly chopped into 1.5 cm pieces
1 jar butter beans, drained
30 g chives, very finely chopped
1½ tbsp lemon juice
300 g large-leaf spinach, stems discarded and leaves roughly torn
salt and black pepper

Instructions

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Preheat the oven to 165°C fan.
Put the onions, garlic, ginger and chillies into a food processor, pulse until very finely chopped.
Pat dry the short ribs and lightly sprinkle them all over with salt and pepper. Put 2 tablespoons of oil into a large cast-iron ovenproof saucepan, for which you have a lid, on a medium-high heat. Fry the short ribs in two batches until deeply golden on all sides, about per batch. Remove the ribs and set aside.
Add the onion mixture to the saucepan along with the star anise and cardamom, and cook for to soften, stirring occasionally. Add the tomato paste, ground spices, chopped tomatoes, 1½ teaspoons of salt and a good grind of pepper and cook for more, until the tomatoes start to break down. Add the short ribs and 1.1 litres of water, bring to the boil, then cover with the lid and transfer to the oven. Cook for , stirring a few times throughout.
Add the figs and cook for more, or until the figs have softened and the meat is very tender.
Towards the last of cooking, heat the butter beans in a saucepan with enough water to cover and a pinch of salt. Gently simmer for about , then drain off the liquid. Stir through the chives, the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil, the lemon juice and a good grind of pepper.
When ready, remove the short ribs from the pan, gently tugging at the bones to pull them away from the meat; discard the bones and set the meat aside.
Heat the sauce and stir through the spinach leaves to wilt, about . Add the grated tomato and remove from the heat.
Spoon the sauce into a large shallow platter and top with the beans and beef.

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