Pašta Šuta: The Ultimate Hearty Comforting Pasta Dish

Saturday, 14 February 2026.

If Baba’s juha was the nourishment of my childhood, pašta šuta is the meal that became the staple for my own family. It’s the dish that still calls everyone back to the table, no matter the mood or season.

For my kids this started out as one of their own Baba’s best recipes, served with her beaming smile as they went back for seconds and thirds, her joy as she passed them more cheese, the rich, comforting smell of home. Baba’s pašta šuta was so much more than just a slow-cooked meat ragu, it was countless childhood memories.

We never recorded her original recipe, so this is my best guess as someone who saw how it was done a million times over many many years. Eventually I took over and my version morphed into something slightly different, but no matter how hard I tried my pašta šuta was just never quite like hers.

Pašta Šuta (Meat Ragu With Pasta)

What You’ll Need:

• The meat: a stewing cut of beef is ideal, I always opt for chuck. We never cook this for less than six people so I always buy at least 2kg, I’d say that 1kg should feed four. Cut into large bite size pieces, maybe about 3cm-ish, and don’t trim all the fat. You could also use a pork and beef mince for this for something quicker.
• Onions: You need three large onions, finely diced. Yes, three. This is the secret in the secret sauce. They provide the thickness and the sweetness and there is no such thing as too many.
• The aromatics: 2 minced cloves of garlic, 1 large carrot diced finely, and a couple of stalks of celery chopped very finely.
• The sauce: 1 cup of red wine (definitely something you’d actually drink), 2 tablespoons of tomato paste, and about 500ml of beef stock.
• OPTIONAL: tomatoes. If Mum happened to have any over-ripe tomatoes lying around she’d peel them and add them to the sauce, while I like to add a can of chopped tomatoes to mine. Not strictly required though, as the flavour is more beef than tomato. If you do add them, do it along with the beef broth, and reduce the amount of broth if it’s looking too liquid.
• The seasonings: Salt, pepper, a bay leaf, I like to add a touch of paprika.
• The pasta: Penne, rigatoni, or spaghetti.

How to Make It:

1. The great onion saute: gently fry the onions in olive oil over medium-low heat. Do not brown them. This takes at least thirty minutes, as they need to very gently caramelise. If you rush this, the sauce just won’t be the same. And if your husband is like mine all you’ll hear two hours later is “the onions aren’t cooked”. Just before they’re done add the garlic, carrot, celery, and bay leaf, Stir and sweat for a few minutes more.
2. Add the meat: Add the meat, turn the heat up, and brown all the meat. Don’t worry about doing this in batches, you want all those rich stewing juices.
3. Deglaze: Pour in the red wine and turn the heat up. Let it bubble away until the smell of alcohol disappears and only the richness remains.
4. The sauce: Stir in the tomato paste, and pour in enough broth to just cover the meat. Add the tomatoes if using them.
5. The nice long simmer: Turn the heat to its lowest setting. Cover and let it simmer for a good two hours, you want the meat soft and shred-able. If the sauce reduces too much or gets too thick, add a splash more of stock.
6. To finish: Cook your pasta, not necessarily al dente because Croatians cook it for a couple of minutes more otherwise it’s “raw”. Now, don’t dump the sauce on top of the pasta! Toss the pasta into the pot with the sauce along with a splash of the pasta water. Stir until every bit of pasta is wearing a rich velvety coat of ragu.

Serve it with a mountain of Parmesan or Pecorino cheese, a green salad, and some more of that nice red wine. Dobar tek.