Eleven ingredients and thirty-five minutes, starting from beef you already cooked.
This recipe assumes a chuck roast went through the oven or the slow cooker on another day, was shredded and chilled. What happens here is a sauce, and a careful reheat.
The Beef Is Reheated, and That Has Its Own Rule
This pasta starts with meat that was cooked days earlier, which changes the standard. For safety, use properly chilled previously cooked beef and reheat the leftover beef to 165°F in the sauce.
- The sauce is built first1 tbsp BUTTER with 2 MINCED GARLIC CLOVES and 1/3 cup FINELY DICED ROASTED RED PEPPER FOR 1 MINUTE, then 3/4 cup HEAVY CREAM, 1/2 cup LOW-SODIUM BEEF BROTH and 1/2 tsp SMOKED PAPRIKA SIMMERED 3 TO 4 MINUTES UNTIL LIGHTLY THICKENED. This sauce is creamy and yellow-orange with roasted red pepper, not a tomato ragu.
- The beef goes in cold2 cups PREVIOUSLY COOKED SHREDDED CHUCK ROAST, CHILLED. Cold from the refrigerator is correct here - meat that has been sitting out is not safe to use.
Check before you continue
165°F, reached in the sauce — An instant-read thermometer pushed into a clump of the beef
HEATED IN THE SAUCE UNTIL THE BEEF REACHES 165°F. Reheated leftovers carry their own number, and it is higher than the 145°F the roast itself was cooked to. Reading the sauce instead of the meat is the mistake to avoid: liquid comes up to temperature well before a dense shred of beef in it does.
- Pasta in, parsley on12 oz cooked PENNE RIGATE FOLDED IN, SEASONED AS NEEDED with 1/2 tsp SALT and 1/4 tsp PEPPER, and FINISHED HEAVILY with 1/3 cup CHOPPED PARSLEY. Leftovers of this dish are refrigerated promptly in turn.
Ingredient Notes
- Previously cooked shredded chuck roast, chilled
- Two cups, and it goes in cold from the fridge, not freshly cooked.
- Roasted red pepper, finely diced
- A third of a cup. It is what colours the sauce and shows as small red bits in the photograph.
- Heavy cream and beef broth
- Three quarters of a cup and half a cup, simmered three to four minutes before the meat goes in.
- Penne rigate
- Twelve ounces. The ridges hold this sauce.
How to Make It
Penne rigate cooked al dente and drained
Cook the penne until al dente and drain.
Butter with garlic and diced roasted red pepper, one minute
Melt the butter in a wide skillet and cook the garlic and diced roasted red pepper for 1 minute.
Cream, broth and smoked paprika simmered to thicken
Add the cream, broth and smoked paprika and simmer 3 to 4 minutes, until lightly thickened.
Cooked beef added and heated through to 165°F
Add the previously cooked shredded chuck roast and heat it in the sauce until the beef reaches 165°F.
Penne folded in, seasoned, finished heavily with parsley
Fold in the penne, season as needed, and finish heavily with the parsley.
Why This Recipe Works
- Starting with cold cooked beef means the sauce is built before the meat ever goes near the heat.
- Diced roasted red pepper melts into the cream and gives the sauce its yellow-orange colour.
- Smoked paprika carries the roast flavour of beef that was cooked the day before.
- Beef broth keeps the cream tasting of the meat rather than of dairy.
- Reheating the shredded beef in the sauce brings it to temperature without drying it out.
Success Tips
- Pull the beef apart into loose shreds before it goes in, so it heats evenly.
- Check the temperature in a clump of the meat rather than in the sauce around it.
- Taste before salting; leftover roast is usually seasoned already.
Serving Ideas
Four plates of ridged penne in a creamy yellow-orange sauce loaded with shredded beef, flecked with roasted red pepper and finished with a heavy scattering of parsley.
Frequently Asked Questions
What beef does this start from?
Shredded cooked chuck roast, properly chilled. It is a way to use a roast you cooked earlier.
How hot does the beef need to get?
165°F, reached in the sauce. Previously cooked meat is reheated to that temperature.
Is there tomato in the sauce?
No. This is a cream sauce with roasted red pepper and smoked paprika, not a tomato ragu.
