What to make this weekend: Boeuf bourguignon with fresh pasta

Boeuf bourguignon with fresh pasta
Serves 8

Preparation: 40 minutes

Resting and drying: 12 hours (for pasta dough)

Cooking: 2 hours 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 ½ lb. (1.6 kg) stewing beef
• 4 cups (1 liter) red Burgundy wine
• ½ carrot
• 1 large onion
• ¼ cup (60 ml) oil
• 6 cups (1.5 liters) thickened brown veal stock (use an instant mix or make your own)
• 1 bouquet garni
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled, shoots removed
• 5 oz. (150 g) slab bacon
• 3 ? tablespoons (50 g) butter
• 7 oz. (200 g) button mushrooms
• 5 oz. (150 g) new onions
• 1 ½ tablespoons (20 g) sugar
• Salt, freshly ground pepper

Fresh pasta

• 2 ½ cups (220 g) cake flour
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 ½ tablespoons (20 ml) oil
• 1 teaspoon (5 g) salt

Method

1. A day ahead, prepare the fresh pasta. Sift the flour. Beat the eggs and combine with the oil and salt. Make a well in the center and pour in the liquid ingredients. Rapidly knead the ingredients so that they form a ball. Do not overwork or else the dough will become too elastic. Chill for 30 to 45 minutes. Roughly spread the dough out using a pastry roller, then process it through a pasta maker. Use the pasta maker to cut out tagliatelle. Allow the pasta to dry for several hours before using it. 
2. To prepare the main dish, pour the wine into a pot and reduce it by half over high heat. While it is simmering, peel and wash the carrot piece and the onion. Dice them to make a mirepoix. Oil a sauté pan and, over high heat, brown the meat. Add the diced carrot and onion. Lower the heat and sweat the vegetables. When they have softened, pour in the reduced red wine and veal stock. Add the bouquet garni and garlic cloves. Bring to a simmer and cover with the lid. Now you may either leave it on low heat, or cook in the oven at 325°F (160°C), for 2 ½ hours. 
3. Cut the bacon into lardons, making sure you leave no rind or cartilage. Place them in a pot of cold water to blanch them. When they are done, lightly butter a pan to sauté them. 
4. Wash the mushrooms, pat them dry immediately, and quarter them. Place a knob of butter in a pan and sauté the mushrooms over high heat until all their liquid evaporates. When they are done, season them with salt and freshly ground pepper. 
5. Glaze the baby onions with the sugar until brown. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water. 
6. Remove the pieces of beef from the pot. Strain the sauce through a chinois and reduce it if there is too much or if it is thin. Season the sauce and return the meat to the pot with the mushrooms, onions, and lardons. 
7. Serve in a large serving dish or individual soup plates.

*Chef’s notes:

• Cooking this dish in the oven is preferable to cooking it over the stove top as the heat will be more evenly distributed. 
• Boeuf bourguignon is excellent when reheated a day later. 

Extracted from The Complete Book of French Cooking by Hubert Delorme and Vincent Boué (Flammarion, 2023). Photography by Clay McLachlan.