My uncle, who is an Afrikaner and therefore really knows his meat, always taught me that good oxtail needs a lot of onion. You could tell he knew about meat, because at our family braais on Sundays he wore short shorts and navy blue socks pulled up to his knees. This, along with the squeegee bottle used solely for the dousing of a wayward flame on the braai is, as far as I know, the actual kit handed out to all graduates of whatever meat connoisseur academy these people graduate from. So this might seem like a lot of onion to use in one recipe. It is. But trust him. This is one of those recipes born from a need to find a use for a bag of huge pasta shells and a bit of Parmesan that’s being sitting in the freezer for 6 months. For best results, cook the ragu a day in advance. This makes about two portions of meat. Freeze half and use in anything that requires a Bolognaise sauce.
Jan27
