Oxtail in rich tomato sauce

Pasta allows you to use every last drop of this rich sauce and to stretch the meat further to feed more mouths, but you can also serve it with creamy polenta. Serves 4 Preparation time: 40 minutes Cooking time: 4 hours, 30 minutes Oven temperature: 160°C • 1kg oxtail • 45ml flour • 3ml each cumin and coriander • 15ml olive oil • 1 onion, chopped • 2 stalks celery, chopped • 2 carrots, peeled and chopped • 1 chilli, chopped • 3 cloves garlic, chopped • 125ml red wine • 1 star anise • 1 bottle (690g) passata (Italian tomato sauce) • 250ml beef stock • 1 bouquet garni • basil leaves and Parmesan, to garnish • pappardelle, cooked al dente

1 Preheat the oven. Roll the meat in the flour and spices. Heat a large ovenproof pot until piping hot, pour in the oil and fry the meat in batches until browned. Don’t be too hasty with this step – the well-caramelised meat adds heaps of flavour to the end result.

2 Once all the meat is browned, sauté the onion, celery, carrots, chilli and garlic in the same pot until glossy. Add the wine and star anise to the vegetables to deglaze the pot and cook until the liquid reduces by half. Return the meat to the pot and add the passata, stock and bouquet garni. Season with salt and pepper, cover with a tight-fitting lid and place in the oven for about 3–4 hours or until the meat is tender and falling off the bone.

3 Remove the bouquet garni, check the seasoning again and serve with the pasta.

Serving tip The secret to a plate of authentic Italian pasta? A little of the liquid in which the pasta is cooked. Here’s how: add a ladle of the meat sauce to a hot pan. Using tongs, remove a portion of the al dente pappardelle from the cooking liquid – it doesn’t have to be drained – and add to the pan, shaking well to blend the two together. Turn into a deep pasta bowl, sprinkle with basil and enjoy!