French Onion Rigatoni

This dish is the child of French onion soup, one of my favorite soups, and pasta, the perfect vessel for shoving delicious sauces into one’s face. The slowly caramelized onions are the defining factor and base of the sauce for this dish. I blended the onions with miso (of course), roasted garlic, and the braising juices of the 4-hour slow-cooked short ribs to form the velvety sauce. This sauce was absolutely delicious; it was so sweet from the onions and salty/umami from the miso and concentrated beef stock. This dish was a winner for sure.

Recipe

Serves 2-3

Braised Short Rib

• 1 lb short ribs, bone in
• 6 c beef stock
• 2 medium onions
• 1 bulb garlic

1. Cut both onions into quarters, root to tip. Slice garlic through the middle, horizontally.
2. Preheat an oven to 400ºF.
3. Season short ribs lightly with salt (the sauce will have plenty of salt so don’t overdo it) and black pepper.
4. Sear short ribs on each side until golden brown. Remove, and add aromatics.
5. Once aromatics are nicely charred, add beef stock, then short ribs, ensuring they are nicely submerged (add water if needed).
6. Cover, throw into the oven. After an hour, reduce heat to 325ºF and cook an additional 3 hours.

Caramelized Onions

• 5 medium onions
• 1 tbsp each butter and olive oil
• Salt to taste
• 3 sprigs rosemary

1. Add olive oil, rosemary, and butter to a pan heated over medium high.
2. Once the butter starts to bubble, add onions. Salt the onions, mix to incorporate, and turn heat down to low. Cover, and let cook for one hour.
3. Turn heat back to medium, stirring occasionally until the onions are a deep brown. Remove the hard rosemary stems.

French Onion Sauce

• Caramelized onions from before
• Reserved onions and garlic from braised short ribs
• 1 c beef stock
• 1/2 tbsp miso
• 1 tbsp cold butter

Assembly

• 16 oz rigatoni
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp lemon zest, grated
• 1/4 c parmesan, grated
• Basil for garnish

1. Cook rigatoni in salted water for 1 minute less than minimum time on package instructions. Reserve 1/4 c of the pasta water.
2. Add pasta & pasta water back to pan with sauce, along with butter and parmesan. Mix vigorously until an emulsified, cook for another minute.
3. Garnish with more parmesan, grated lemon zest, and basil.