It’s time for the second instalment of Saturday Stew Season.
Last week we made Beef Bourguignon. It was very nice, although a little too salty. I think it was too salty because the bacon we used was very salty. This week, we’re going to try the Italian version. We were going to do Irish Guiness Beef Stew, but the Guiness has barley in it which Louise can’t eat because she has coeliacs disease, so its back to the drawing board.
The recipe we are using is from The Ultimate Italian Cookbook. Louise’s parents gave her this cookbook for her 15th birthday. It has a very nice baked macaroni with cheese recipe (not very authentic Italian food, but it still tastes nice). Today’s recipe is as follows (modified from the book for cooking in a crock pot):
Recipe: Spezzatino di manzo con vino rosso (Beef Stew with Red Wine)
Summary: A rich, hearty Italian beef stew
Ingredients
- 75ml of olive oil;
- 1.2kg of blade steak, in 3cm cubes;
- 1 medium onion, very finely sliced;
- 2 carrots, chopped;
- 45ml finely chopped parsley;
- 1 clove of garlic, chopped;
- 1 bay leaf;
- A pinch of dried thyme leaves;
- A pinch of ground nutmeg;
- 1 cup of red wine;
- 1 400g can of plum tomatoes, chopped with their juice;
- 100ml beef or chicken broth;
- 15 black olives, stoned and halved;
- 1 large red sweet pepper, cut into strips;
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Instructions
- Turn on crockpot.
- Heat 45 ml of the oil in a pan. Brown the meat, a little at a time, turning it to colour on all sides. Remove to crock pot.
- Add the remaining oil, and the onions and carrots to the pan. Cook over low heat until the onion softens.
- Add the parsley and garlic and cook for 3-4 minutes more. Remove to crock pot.
- Pour the wine into the pan to deglaze. Bring to a simmer. Stir in the tomatoes, olives, broth, bay leaf, thyme and nutmeg and reduce. Transfer to crock pot.
- Leave to cook on low in crock pot for 5 hours.
- Add strips of red pepper to crock pot. Cook for a further 1 hour.
- Season to taste.
- Serve with mashed potatoes or polenta.
Diet (other): Gluten free
Number of servings (yield): 6
Meal type: dinner
Culinary tradition: Italian
