Sauce for leftover braised beef in ravioli .

[lunchslut]

Would love suggestions on what sauce we should use for ravioli made with leftover braised beef.

We made homemade pho stock and have saved the braised meat from the process. The meat is from oxtail and short rib and is flavoured with star anise, cinnamon and black pepper. The recipe we used suggested using the meat in ravioli but given the spices used in the pho, I am not sure our favorite go-to sauces would complement these flavours.

Ideas and alternate suggestions?

[escondido123]

You could do a tomato sauce with fresh fennel which would compliment the flavors you already have.

[jaykayen]

beurre rouge

[twyst]

Hopefully you still have some of the braising liquid. Just reduce it heavily and when it hits the right consistency take it off the heat and swirl a little butter in. Drizzle a little over your dish and you should be good to go.

[todao]

Excellent suggestion. The herbs/spices typically use in a pho would lose their center stage influence with another sauce.

[lunchslut]

Unfortunately the broth is all gone but will save some from the next batch...

Except for pho and Asian foods, star anise is not one of our go to flavours. I am looking for more of something to complement and would not be upset if the flavour profile shifts.

[twyst]

OK new suggestion then.

Rough chop some miripoix (about a cup to a cup and a half worth) and throw it into a sautee pan with a little oil over high heat. You want to get color, so high heat! Once you get some nice color, add about half a tablespoon of tomato paste and stir that around for a minute. Deglaze your pan with some port if you have it (red wine if not), and then reduce the wine until its almost completely evaporated. Add some store bought beef stock (unsalted) and bring that to a simmer for a bit. Strain with fine mesh strainer , then return to the pan and continue to reduce until it starts to thicken a little, take off heat, swirl a little butter and youre done!

[todao]

OK; you might want to try something like sautéing some very finely chopped onion in olive oil over medium heat, then lower heat and add some garlic (careful not to brown) and cook for about a minute (or less) the dump in some crushed tomatoes and cook (don't forget to stir) until the mixture reduces by about half. Take off heat, add just a little bit of heavy cream and a couple of tablespoons of vodka (more if you like). Cook over low heat until it thickens.
You could add some herbs of choice and finish with some grated hard cheese if you want to go that far afield but, frankly, I'd leave it as simple as possible.
Sorry, I don't rely on precise recipes very much so this would be a groping in the dark approach requiring tasting at each phase to obtain the depth of flavor you'd like but I think it would do justice to your pho ravioli.