Wonderfully rich and gamey, this ragout would work equally well with polenta.
In a pressure cooker or heavy pot heat a little olive oil and sear the ox cheeks briefly before setting them aside. Add a little more olive oil to the pot and gently fry 1 diced onion and 2 finely diced cloves of garlic until the onions are translucent. Add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste and cook for a further 2 minutes. Return the ox cheeks to the pot with a few porcini mushrooms, 1 or 2 bay leaves, a glass of red wine and 1 cup of beef stock. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper and cook for 50 minutes in a pressure cooker (2½ – 3 hours in a pot) until the ox cheeks are soft and can be broken apart with a fork. Continue to cook to reduce the liquid, adding 200g (7 oz) of fresh mushrooms towards the end. Season again if necessary before serving on tagliatelle or polenta with freshly grated parmesan.
michelle picker cooks 