Xav's Kitchen's Rabo de Toro

Tender cuts of oxtail slow-cooked in a rich, herby tomato and red wine sauce, served with crispy fried potato wedges.

15 minutes prep

3.5 hours cook

Serves 4-6

Twisted

Ingredients

200 gplain flour

1 tspsalt, plus extra to season

2 tspground black pepper

1 kgoxtail chunks, trimmed

5 tspolive oil, plus extra if needed

1 Spanish sweet onion, diced

1 small carrot, peeled and finely diced

150 gleek, diced

4 garlic cloves, minced

400 mlred wine

150 gpassata

800 mlbeef stock

2 rosemary sprigs

8 thyme sprigs

4 bay leaves

14 gpiece of 70% dark chocolate

Meet Xavier Bramble, he’s got a cookbook called ‘Stews’ and he’s on a mission to give them a PR revamp. Let’s face it, they haven’t always had the sexiest image, but this one will definitely change your mind. Xav learnt the recipe from a mate at uni in Spain, including the clever little addition of dark chocolate (which massively levels up the flavour). Yes, this one takes a bit of patience, but the end result is well worth it.

Method

Tip the flour into a large mixing bowl. Season with the measured salt and the black pepper and stir to combine. Add the oxtail pieces and turn them through the seasoned flour to coat, ensuring each piece is well covered.

Heat up a large stew pot on a medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Once hot, add the oxtail pieces to the pot and sear them, turning frequently to avoid burning the flour, for 2 minutes, until brown all over (do this in batches, if necessary). Remove the meat from the pot and set aside.

Add a dash more olive oil to the pot if needed, then add the onion, carrot and leek with a pinch of salt. Reduce the heat to medium and fry for 5 minutes, until the onion is soft. Add the garlic and soften for 1 minute.

Add the oxtail pieces back to the pot, then pour in the red wine. Leave the wine to bubble away until it is reduced by half (about 10 minutes). Add the passata and beef stock and bring the liquid to the boil. Add the rosemary, thyme, bay leaves and whole piece of chocolate. Reduce the heat, put the lid on the pot and simmer for 3 hours, until the oxtail is fall-off-the-bone tender.

Remove the tender oxtail pieces and set them aside (discard the bones, if you prefer). Using a hand-held stick blender, off the heat, blitz the rest of the stew to form a smooth sauce. Serve the sauce over the oxtail with some fried wedges or chips.