Braised meat is delicious and not all that hard to prepare. This is a simple but delicious meat sauce that requires a little bit of patience but goes great with a whole lot of full bodied red wine.
Heat your olive oil in a large pot on medium-low heat. Finely dice your onion, celery, and carrots. Add to the pot and cook until onions are translucent.
Add the tomato paste and mix into your mirepoix thoroughly.
Generously rub the short ribs in salt and pepper. Heat your pot to medium high and add the meat, bone-side up. You want a hard sear but obviously without burning your meat.
After searing the short ribs for 3-5 minutes (you want a nice crust on the top of your ribs) you may transfer the contents of the pan to a slow cooker, or continue cooking in the pot.
Add the parsley, wine, stock, and both cans of tomato. Reduce the heat to medium-low and stir in the rosemary, sugar, and black pepper.
Cover and cook for 6-8 hours.
After a long time has passed and you are confident your meat has been tenderized, uncover the sauce and carefully inspect and taste it. Are the short ribs soft? You should be able to easily pull them apart with a spoon. If not, continue cooking. When the meat is properly cooked, skim as much fat from the surface of the pot as you can.
Taste the sauce. If it is acidic add more sugar. Add more salt or black pepper as needed. You can even add more rosemary or parsley to up the herbaciousness. When satisfied with the base flavor, add the crushed chili flake, gently stir and let the sauce cook for another 5 minutes to marry.
Serve over pappardelle or other long pasta (egg pasta is preferable) and dress with pecorino and parmigiano reggiano. Enjoy!