Spezzatino alla toscana
Beef stew, Tuscan-style Traditional recipe of Tuscany
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- 400g (14 ounces) lean stewing steak, cut into cubes
- 200g (7 ounces) canned peeled tomatoes
- 80g (2.8 ounces) onion, chopped
- 40g (1 1/2 ounce) carrot, chopped
- 30g (1 ounce) celery, chopped
- Sprig fresh rosemary, chopped
- 150ml (5 fluid ounces - 2/3 cup) red wine
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Vegetable or meat stock
- Salt
- Pepper, if liked
- Time:
preparation: 15 minutes
cooking: about 2 hours
total: 2 hours 15 minutes - Difficulty:
easy recipe - Nutrition Facts (amount per serving):
Calories: 345 (kCal) 18 % GDA (*) - 1442 (kJ)
Protein: 45.0 (g) 60 % GDA
Total fat: 15.4 (g) 23 % GDA
Total carbohydrate: 6.6 (g) 3 % GDA
Sugars: 6.6 (g) 8 % GDA
Beef stew, Tuscany-style is a perfect example of the Italian cooking: the simpler the recipe is the tastier the dish is!
In fact its ingredients are few and simple: onion, carrot, garlic, rosemary and celery, beef meat, stock, olive oil and wine.
Beef stew must be cooked for long time to have tender and tasty meat: its secret is here!
Here's the recipe!
Sautè the vegetables. Put the olive oil, onion, rosemary, carrot and celery in a pan. Sauté the vegetables on very low heat, stirring frequently, for a few minutes. Add the meat too. Keep on sautéing for few minutes, stirring frequently.
Keep on cooking. Pour in the wine, let it evaporate and add the tomatoes. Season to taste with salt and pepper and keep on cooking, half-covered, on very low heat, stirring now and then.
Add the boiling stock when necessary.
The cooking must be long (it should last at least 90 minutes after the addition of tomatoes) if you want to have tender and tasty meat.
Generally we let all the cooking juice reduce very well as you can see in the photo.
Note
- - We don't like garlic and so we use fresh chives and add it to the meat together with the tomatoes. Besides we prefer hot pepper according to the Mediterranean diet.
- - You can also use veal meat (boned shoulder of veal, cut into pieces).
- - Choose the stock you prefer. Generally we put an onion, a carrot and a celery stalk in a pan. We cover these vegetables with water, season to taste with salt, bring to the boil and then reduce the heat and let them simmer while the meat is cooking. We add a bit of this stock when necessary.
- - What tomatoes? Choose the tomatoes according to the season. In summer prefer fresh ripe tomatoes (300 g - 10 1/2 oz) and in winter canned peeled tomatoes.
- - Serve beef stew with mashed potatoes or potatoes cooked together with the meat. It's enough to cube 3 medium size potatoes and add them to the meat half an hour before the end of cooking. Keep on cooking half-covered. It's a fantastic dish! In Italy we are also used to accompany this dish with peas or carrots.
What's the right wine for " Spezzatino alla toscana " ?
Our suggestion is: Friuli Grave Merlot DOC (wine of Friuli) or Chianti (wine of Tuscany).
By: Loretta Sebastiani
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