Rub each of the short ribs with olive oil then generously sprinkling with salt & pepper.
Dice the onion, carrot, celery and 5 mushrooms. Mince the garlic.
Start a large pot of water setting your sous vide machine to 175°F (97.4°C). Remember to protect your counter from the hot pot.
Heat a large cast iron pan on medium-high heat for a 4-5 minutes. Add approximately 1 tablespoon olive oil to the pan and pre-sear and brown the short ribs on all sides, a few minutes each side. When browned, remove the short ribs from the pan and set aside.
While the pan is still hot, add 1 tablespoon butter and add the diced onion, carrot, celery, mushroom and minced garlic. Begin to sweat them by stirring every minute or so until the veggies are soft.
Add in the tomato paste and sauté another 2 minutes to get some color on the paste.
Add in the beef stock, or wine, and stir for a few minutes until all liquid is incorporated and starting to thicken. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
Bag the pre-seared short ribs into a sous vide safe bag or freezer style zip top bag, splitting into 2 bags, if needed, so the meat sits at the bottom of each bag.
Add the sprigs of fresh rosemary and the all the veggies and liquid from the pan, split if multiple bags. Remove air from the bag, seal and drop into the preheated water bath for 24 hours. Make sure to cover as water will evaporate on long cooks.
After 24 hours remove bag/bags from water bath. Remove short ribs and scrape off most of the veggies and set short ribs aside while keeping warm.
Remove the sprigs of rosemary and discard. Remove all veggies and liquid from the bags and strain all braising liquid through a fine mesh strainer over a large sauté pan. Extract as much liquid as possible by pressing all veggies with a large spoon. Save veggies for another sauce or discard.
Set pan on medium-high heat and begin to reduce by 1/3, stirring occasionally. During this time add in beef paste and remaining tablespoon of butter until desired sauce consistency.
Taste and season with salt and pepper.
Optional: Quick sauce method is to dump all braising liquid and veggies into a food processor or use of a stick blender and add water for desired consistency.
In a large pot, bring water to a rolling boil adding a few tablespoons salt. Cook farfalle pasta to desired softness per package instructions. Drain and set aside.
In a large sauté pan heat remaining tablespoon butter and olive oil and sauté sliced mushrooms until nicely browned, approximately 5-10 minutes.
Remove mushrooms [or leave to mix in with pasta] and add the grated garlic and onion and stir for a few minutes.
Add the lemon juice and stir another minute.
Add the Half & Half and any amount of the broth and reduce for desired pasta sauce consistency.
While pasta is still warm mix in cheese, or any variation of preferred cheese.
Add the spinach and lemon zest to the sauce and incorporate sauce with pasta at this time.
Season to taste.
Top with some extra grated cheese and fresh basil chiffonade, if desired, and serve immediately with plated short ribs topped with pan sauce.
Recipe Variations:
- All stock is interchangeable with wine if desired.
- Cheese variation or addition like goat cheese at the end plating if desired or elimination for dietary restrictions.
- Another amazing variation would be lamb shanks in place of short ribs. Same preparation method works great.
- Pasta can be interchanged with any type desired, depending on personal preference.
- Upscale your end dish by putting the short ribs under a broiler for a few minutes to get a nice char before plating.
