Shredded Beef Ragu

The slightly overcooked egg noodles and the lack of natural light when I took this photo do not do this simple, but delicious dish justice!
I had some stewing beef thawed with just a bit of time to throw something in the crock pot to ensure that hungry, studying teenagers had fuel for the long night ahead by the time I returned home from work. This ragu literally took me less then 10 minutes to assemble.

I tossed about a pound of stewing beef, a large, finely-chopped onion, 3 large cloves of grated garlic, a 19 oz can of petite-cut diced tomatoes, a cup of red wine, a beef bouillion cube and large spoonful each of tomato paste (likely 2 spoonfuls of paste) and pesto into the crock pot, turned it to high, and left it to simmer for about 4 hours or until the beef could easily be shredded apart with two forks.  After pulling all the beef apart, I added some salt and pepper to taste and a spoonful of brown sugar to mellow the acidity of the tomatoes and served the shredded beef over buttered egg noodles with some grated parmesan cheese.

This was very hearty and likely would also be really yummy over potato gnocchi or polenta.  It was somewhat reminiscent of the Beef Short Ribs and Gnocchi served at the Bauer Kitchen in Uptown Waterloo served over buttery gnocchi with heaps of mushrooms that would be a tasty addition.  I think a dark beer in place of the red wine could work here too.

Some fresh baked crocodile bread from the City Cafe Bakery and this was a warm, satisfying meal that came together effortlessly.