Beef Shin Macaroni

Found this delicious recipe in the March 2012 issue of Olive.

Beef shin macaroni

3 hours 45 minutes + overnight marinating

Serves4

You'll need to order the shin and marrowbone from a good butcher Ask to keep the bone in as it adds to the flavour of the finished dish.

Our butcher produced a beautiful piece of shin of beef

shin of beef 1kg, in a single piece, bone in

onions 5 small, peeled

carrots 5 small, washed

herbs and spice mix 2 sprigs thyme, l sprig rosemary, l bay leaf 1O peppercorns, 20 fennel seeds and 2 star anise, tied in a muslin bag

red wine 75Oml

beef stock l litre

chicken stock 1 litre

beef dripping or oil for frying

smoked bacon 150g, diced into 2cm pieces

elbow macaroni or other small tubular pasta 250g

bone marrow150g, diced

Doddington cheese 15Og (or 10Og parmesan if you can't get Doddington)

Put the shin of beef vegetables and muslin bag of herbs and spices in a large ovenproof pan with a lid. Cover with the red wine, put the lid on the pot and chill overnight.

The next day, remove the shin, vegetables and muslin bag of aromatics. Simmer to reduce the red wine by half its volume, add the meat stocks and bring up to simmering point.

Heat the oven to 150C fan l3OC/gas 2.

Melt a generous tablespoonful of beef dripping in a large frying pan, and brown the shin on all sides. Add this to the pan of reduced red wine and stock. Fry the vegetables and bacon in the same pan until lightly browned then add to the beef. Add back the herbs and spices bag and transfer the pan to the oven. Cook gently for 3 hours or until the meat is tender and falling away from the bone. Take out the pan and turn oven up to l8OC  fanl6OC/gas 4. Remove the bag of herbs and spices and discard. Remove the meat, vegetables and bacon from the liquid then reduce the braising liquor on the hob by half. Skim off any impurities that rise to the surface.

Bring a pan of salted water to the boil and cook the macaroni. Leave it a little more al dente than usual. Drain. Return the meat and bacon to the reduced liquid (discard the whole veg).

Add the bone marrow and half the cheese Stir in the drained macaroni and season. Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the surface. Put back in the oven uncovered for 15-20 minutes. To finish, put under a hot grill for a few minutes until the surface is well browned. Allow to sit for a few minutes.

This was so good, and provided four very generous servings.  My beef shin was slightly over the kilo and was a centre cut so very meaty. I have to admit to using a locally produced strong cheddar cheese. I also left the cooked vegetables in.