The Perfect Food and Wine Pairing for Winter

The Perfect Food and Wine Pairing for Winter. We’re excited to bring you another incredible recipe from our good friend and author of Another Food Blogger, Gavin Sutherland. We’ve teamed up to share the perfect food and wine pairing to keep you warm and satisfied this winter: Beef Cheek Ragu paired with our Tin Lids Aria Secca Shiraz.

Our fruit-filled TinLids Shiraz pairs perfectly with the warmth and depth of Gavin’s ragu. This pairing will have you and your guests reaching for seconds in no time! It is a real crowd-pleaser.

Beef Cheek Ragu

Serves 8 people 

Prep =15 mins, Cook = 3 hours

Ingredients

Ragu

• 1kg beef cheeks
• 2 carrots
• 1 stick of celery
• 1 red onion
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 1 red chilli
• 1 thumb sized piece of ginger
• 4 sprigs of thyme
• 1 star anise
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 440ml tin diced tomatoes
• 500ml beef stock
• 500ml red wine

Lemon Parsley Oil

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley

Essential Tools

• Chopping board
• Chef knives
• Dutch oven
• Tongs
• Wooden Spoon
• Measuring/weighing utensils

Method

Lemon Parsley Oil

Mix all ingredients together and set aside until ready to use (make fresh before serving)

Ragu

1. Cut the beef cheeks into smaller sized pieces – I cut my 500g cheeks into 3 pieces
2. Prepare the vegetables–dice the onion, carrots, chilli, and celery finely. Mince the garlic and grate the ginger
3. Oil and season the cheeks generously with salt and pepper, sear on high in a Dutch oven until golden brown–approx. 5 minutes. Remove and leave on a plate
4. Turn the heat to medium-high and add the vegetables, stirring regularly for 2-3 minutes
5. Add the tomato paste, tinned tomatoes, herbs, spices, red wine, and stock. Bring to a simmer and add the cheeks and their juices back in
6. Cover and cook in the oven for 2.5-3 hours at 180°C
7. Once the cheeks are cooked, they should fall apart easily when picked up with the tongs. Discard herbs and spices and place the pan on a low heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes to thicken up the sauce
8. Serve with pasta, lemon parsley oil and some pangrattato (optional)
9. Pour yourself a glass of Hobbs of Barossa Ranges Tin Lids Aria Secca Shiraz, and enjoy!

Tips/Tricks

• Beef cheek ragu will keep up to 4 days in the fridge but freezes great–why not make a double batch!
• The lemon parsley oil adds a great acidity to the dish
• Pangrattato isn’t essential but I like the added texture you get from it
• You can substitute short ribs if you can’t get beef cheeks from your butcher, or even chuck steak

A big thank you to Gavin Sutherland atAnother Food Blogger for this beautiful recipe. Enjoy a bottle of our Tin Lids Aria Secca Shiraz.