Italian Beef Short Rib Ragù with Potato Gnocchi Pasta is $7.93 per pound at Costco in Sand City, California by Ruth Paget
I prepared an Italian winter dish from Italy’s northwestern Piedmont region this weekend. (Cultural note: Turin, the headquarters of Fiat Motor Company, is located in Piedmont.)
This hearty and robust flavored dish is beef short rib ragù with potato gnocchi (pronounced nyo-key) pasta and Parmesan cheese cream sauce. Just the title of this dish fills me up, but you want to eat the real thing, because it is so delicious.
There are 4 main elements in this combined dish:
-braised beef short ribs cooked in a tomato ragù sauce that is seasoned with a mirepoix of sautéed onion, celery, and carrot
-gnocchi potato pasta which are shaped like walnuts and made with flour, potatoes, and egg
-Parmesan cheese cream sauce made with:
-heavy cream -shallots
-garlic
-thyme
-1 ½ cups grated Parmesan cheese
(Some cooks add arugula to this sauce when in season according to the Piedmontese.com website I consulted to look up an exact recipe beyond the container ingredient list from Costco.)
-grated Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on top of the final combination
There is a method for putting this dish together that promotes a svelte end product:
-line the bottom of a baking dish with the beef short rib ragù
-place the homemade potato gnocchi on top of the ragù
-spread the Parmesan cheese cream sauce over the gnocchi
-sprinkle grated Parmesan cheese on top of Parmesan cream sauce
-cover the baking dish wit aluminum foil and place it on a parchment lined baking tray in case of spills during cooking
-bake for an hour
-remove foil and let sit for five minutes before serving
This dish tasted very good with a de Tierra Cabernet Franc red wing from Salinas, California. This varietal is also used in the Loire Valley outside Chino in wines like Chinon and Bourgeuil.
This seasonal Costco deli item costs $7.93 per pound as of today (November 10, 2026) when ingredients are in stock and usually runs between $24 and $28 for a tray. 4 to 6 people can eat the beef short rib ragù with gnocchi and Parmesan cheese cream sauce.
I love Italian food from all regions and appreciate being able to buy this fancy Italian dish in the deli department at Costco in Sand City (near Monterey), California. Other shoppers might like the beef short rib ragu with potato gnocchi topped with Parmesan cream sauce for the same reason.
By Ruth Paget
-author Eating Soup with Chopsticks, Marrying France, and Europe’s Lessons written during overseas duty in Germany + 5 other Kindle books
-developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games + 8 Classical Western Civilization War Games
-developer of food and beverage knowledge games
-creator of online games about San Miguel Arcangel Mission, French baguette making, and the Carmel Valley History Center
-creator of French armchair travel and culture games
-writer of 2100+ Central Coast California lifestyle blogs
-family genealogist
-developer of 9 music theory games
