Tuscan Style Braised Beef Stracotto Toscano Recipes

ITALIAN POT ROAST (STRACOTTO ALLA FIORENTINA)

Steps:

• Trim some of the fat from the meat. Using a sharp knife, make cuts all over the meat and insert the garlic slices inside. Season generously with salt and pepper. If you like, you can tie the beef with kitchen strin, to help it keep it shape during cooking.
• In a large dutch oven pot, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the meat and brown on all sides until a nice brown crust develops, about 5 minutes per side. Remove to a plate and reserve.
• Lower the heat to medium low. Add the veggies and cook until soft and translucent, about 10 minutes. Then, add the wine and cook until it reduces slightly, about 5 minutes.
• Add the marinara sauce and stir to combine. Then, add back the chuck roast and the basil leaves. Cover, turn the heat down to low and let it simmer gently for 2 to 3 hours, turning the roast at least once, until fork tender. If you think the sauce is drying out, you can add some water of beef broth.
• When done, remove the basil leaves and discard. Transfer the meat to a chopping board, remove the kitchen string (if used) and cut into smaller pieces. The sauce should be thick enough, but if it's not, you can continue boiling over medium-high heat, uncovered, until it reaches the desired thickness. Taste for seasoning and adjust accordingly.
• Serve the roast over creamy polenta (or mashed potatoes), garnished with chopped parsley.

ITALIAN POT ROAST (STRACOTTO)

Steps:

• Cut the garlic into thin slivers. Pierce the meat in many places with the point of a knife and insert the garlic slivers into the holes.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy 3- to 4-quart heatproof casserole. Add the meat and brown it well over medium heat. Remove it from the casserole. Add the remaining oil and the onions, carrots and celery. Saute them until moderately brown.
• Stir in the wine and cook for a few minutes, scraping the casserole. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste and basil. Season the mixture with salt and pepper and return the meat to the casserole.
• Cover tightly and cook over very low heat for at least three hours, until the meat is very tender. Turn the meat a few times during cooking.
• Remove the meat from the casserole. To serve immediately, skim the fat from the surface of the sauce, then puree the sauce in a food processor and reheat. Otherwise, refrigerate the meat and sauce overnight. Remove any congealed fat from the sauce and puree the sauce in a food processor. Reheat the meat in the sauce before serving.

BRASATO AL VINO ROSSO (BEEF BRAISED IN RED WINE)

Steps:

• Marinade: Although it is not absolutely necessary, I find that the roast has extra depth of flavor if it is allowed to marinate. You place a beef roast into a ceramic bowl or pot into which it will fit snugly, then add the 'holy trinity' of onion, carrots and celery, each cut up into wedges or large chunks, a whole garlic clove or two, some whole peppercorns, a few cloves and a bay leaf or two. Pour over ample robust red wine-usually you'll need a whole bottle. Leave the roast to marinate in its red wine bath overnight or even longer in the fridge. If the liquid does not entirely cover the roast, turn it every so often to ensure even marination. Let the roast come back to room temperature before cooking. (NB: Even if you don't have 24 hours to spare, you can marinate the meat for a few hours, or from the morning to the evening, in which case I'd leave it out of the fridge.
• Browning: Remove the roast from the marinade and pat dry. Then, in a round or oval Dutch oven, melt about two spoonfuls of lard, add a sprig of rosemary and a garlic clove and brown the roast well on all sides, seasoning well with salt and pepper as you go. (Remove the garlic if it browns too much.)
• Braising: Then straining the marinade liquid through a sieve, pour it slowly over the roast. The liquid should come about 2/3 of the way up the roast. Lower the heat, cover the pot and allow it to simmer slowly until tender, about 2 or 3 hours (depending on the size of the roast), turning the roast every half hour or so to ensure even cooking. (Add some broth or water if it dried out too much, but normally there should be ample liquid without adding more.)
• Finishing the dish: When the roast is done, remove it from the pot to a carving board to cool off a bit. (This will make it easier to slice.) While it is cooling, bind the remaining liquid a bit in the pot either with some beurre manié or with a cornstarch slurry (see Notes). The resulting sauce should have a nice liaison without actually being thick. Slice the roast on a serving platter and pour over a bit of the sauce. Serve with the remaining sauce in a sauceboat.

TUSCAN-STYLE BRAISED BEEF, [ STRACOTTO TOSCANO]

Steps:

• 1. Mix the garlic and rosemary with a generous quantity of salt and pepper. Using a sharp knife, make several incisions in the meat and fill with the herb mixture. Tie the meant loosely with kitchen string. Heat the oil in a heavy bottom pan over medium-high heat and brown the meat well on all sides. Add the onions, carrots, celery, parsley,sage, bay leaves and saute for a min. Season with salt and pepper, then pour in the wine.When the wine has evaporated ,[A few mins] add the tomatoes , partially cover and simmer over medium -low heat for 2 1/2 hours. Turn the meat from time to time, adding the stock gradually so that the sauce does not dry out.
• 2. When the meat is cooked, you can either slice and serve with the sauce and bread, or I put in the fridge at this point and the next day I reheat for another hour the shred all the meat and mix with sauce and spoon over any type pasta and add grated cheese.

TUSCAN BEEF TENDERLOIN

Steps:

• Combine dried herbs, salt and pepper. Rub into beef, completely coating tenderloin. Pour about 1/4 cup olive oil evenly over tenderloin, and continue to rub oil and dried herbs into beef. Drizzle top of beef with balsamic vinegar. Wrap beef in foil and let it marinate for 30 minutes, coming to room temperature. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place beef on rack in baking pan. Add 2 cups of water to pan under meat. Roast meat for about 25 minutes, until meal thermometer inserted in center of beef reads 125 degrees (beef should be rare). Remove from oven, and remove beef from rack to sheet pan. Cover beef with foil and let it rest for 15-20 minutes. Heat grill, gas or charcoal, to medium high. Slice beef into thick 1 1/2 inch slices. Brush beef with remaining extra virgin olive oil. Place beef on hot grill for only 2 minutes per side. Remove meat to platter. Sprinkle fresh herbs mixed with lemon zest over beef. Finish with lemon juice and extra vigin olive oil.

TUSCAN STYLE MEAT SAUCE (RAGU TOSCANO)

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat.
• Cook the onion, carrot, and celery in the hot oil until the vegetables are tender and the onion has begun to brown around the edges, about 5 minutes.
• Stir in the beef and pork; continue cooking and stirring until the meat is brown and crumbled, about 5 minutes. Pour in the wine, bring to a boil, and cook until the wine has nearly evaporated.
• Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low, partially cover the pan, and simmer 2 hours until the sauce is very thick. Use a little water as needed if the sauce begins to look too dry.