Oxtail normally is found in the supermarket with the unpopular offal or pet food and I can't understand why. This dish is incredibly rich and luxurious and has a flavour quite different to a regular beef stew. I love to cook it for large groups of friends or family as it's really straight forward and requires little effort, although tastes as if I've been slaving away for hours.

Turn the oven on to bake at 160°C.

Place a heavy based casserole dish on the stove top on a low/medium heat. Add the butter, onions, celery, thyme and carrots and sauté until softened but not browned.

Increase the heat and add the oxtail, cook until meat has browned. Add the minced garlic, tomatoes, wine, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves and water and cook until liquid has begun to boil.

Place the casserole dish in the oven with the lid on and cook for four hours. Check on it regularly to make sure it's not becoming too dry or catching on the bottom. If so add a 1/4 cup more water and stir.

Once the meat is falling off the bones the pasta needs to be cooked. Boil water and cook pasta for 6 minutes if dried or until al dente.

Remove the bones from the ragu and pull the shreds of meat apart with two forks. This should leave you with a thick meaty sauce. Season with salt and pepper and stir through fresh parsley. Oxtail is a fatty cut of meat so it's best to skim off any excess oil from the top.

Serve pasta with meat sauce and garnish with finely grated parmesan.

TIPS:
This dish pairs nicely with a crisp green salad.