Spezzatino Di Manzo Italian Beef Stew Food

SPEZZATINO DI MANZO CON LA POLENTA (BEEF STEW WITH POLENTA)

Steps:

• Pour a generous amount of olive oil (or a mixture of butter and oil) into a sauté or braising pan. Add the onion, carrot and celery and sauté very gently until the vegetables are very soft and the onion translucent. Adding a pinch of salt and a spoonful of water helps the vegetables cook and avoids browning.
• Now add the beef cubes and turn them with a wooden spoon or spatula so they are nicely coated with the vegetables and flavored oil. Season well with salt and pepper. Raise the heat a bit and let the beef brown very lightly, turning constantly to avoid burning.
• Now add a splash of wine and let it evaporate. Then add enough broth to almost cover the meat and, if using, nestle your fresh herbs among the beef cubes. (NB: Most Italian recipes call for much less broth than this, but this way will give you abundant sauce for pouring your polenta: see Notes below.)
• Cover, turn down the flame as low as it will go, and let the beef simmer very gently until fork-tender. Most recipes say an hour and a half, but I find two to three hours is more like it.
• When the meat is tender, uncover and check the consistency of the sauce. If it is rather thin, you can either raise the heat and let it evaporate and/or add a spoonful of corn or potato starch, dissolved in an equal amount of water, to thicken the sauce. If, on the other hand, you want more sauce, then just add more broth or water and let it simmer, uncovered, for a few minutes. Taste and adjust for seasoning.
• Remove the fresh herbs, if used, and serve your Italian beef stew over a nice, hot bed of freshly made polenta (see recipe here).

SPEZZATINO DI MANZO (ITALIAN BEEF STEW)

Steps:

• Heat a sauce pot medium-high heat. Add 1 teaspoon oil to pan. Add onion and chopped carrot; sauté 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; sauté for 45 seconds, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat.
• Add 2 tablespoon oil to sauté pan. Place 1/4 cup flour in a shallow dish. Sprinkle beef with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper; dredge in flour. Add half of beef to pan; sauté 6 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove from pan. Repeat procedure.
• Add wine to pan, and bring to a boil, scraping pan. Cook until reduced to 1/3 cup (about 5 minutes). Put the meat and the wine reduction in the sauce pot with the vegetables and return to the heat . Add tomato and next 6 ingredients; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.. Simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour or until meat is very tender, stirring occasionally. Discard bay leaf. Stir in remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, basil, and parsley.
• Serving suggestion : Serve the beef stew over corn meal or Italian Polenta with generous amount or grated parmesan cheese.
• Paring wine: Rosso Montalcino, Chianti Cassico , Barbaresco delle langhe, Montepulciano D'Abruzzo.

SPEZZATINO DI MANZO AL CIOCCOLATO: BEEF STEW WITH CHOCOLATE

Steps:

• In a saucepan, heat up the olive oil. Add the pancetta and cook until the fat has been rendered down.
• Place the flour in a shallow bowl or dish. Dredge the beef in the flour, shake off any excess flour, and add the beef to the hot pan. Sear the beef, stirring well so that all sides are browned. Add the sage, thyme (without the stem), and salt, to taste, to the saucepan. Deglaze the pan with the sherry and stir to pick up any brown bits. Once the sherry has reduced, add a couple ladles of vegetable broth and let reduce. Continue stirring and add the chopped chocolate. Once the chocolate has completely melted, add a few more ladles of vegetable broth.
• Allow to cook for 1 hour on medium heat, adding more vegetable broth, if necessary.

ITALIAN BEEF STEW (SPEZZATINO DI MANZO)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300f and make room on the middle rack for a large Dutch oven. Heat a large Dutch oven to medium-low heat, then add the olive oil, carrots, celery, and onion. Cook for 5 minutes then add the mushrooms, turn heat to medium, and continue to cook stirring frequently.
• While the veggies are sauteing, pat the chuck roast cubes dry. Once the mushrooms release their water and most of it has evaporated from the pot, season the beef cubes with salt and pepper and add to the pot.
• Coat the beef with the veggies and oil. Let the beef cook for 5-10 minutes (it won't develop much color). Next, turn heat to medium-high and add the wine and cook for 5-7 minutes or until it mostly evaporates and absorbs into the beef. Using a wooden spoon scrape up all of the brown bits while the beef is cooking.
• Add the beef stock, rosemary, and bay leaf and stir it all together. Cover with a tight-fitting lid and cook in the oven for 2 1/2 hours or until tender. For the last 30-45 minutes braise with no lid to thicken the sauce and add a bit of color to the meat.
• Once the beef is tender remove the pot from the oven. If there is too much liquid in the pot use a slurry of cornstarch (see notes) to thicken or cook over medium heat on the stovetop to thicken and reduce the liquid. Once satisfied with the consistency, taste test and make final adjustments to salt and pepper. Serve with crusty bread or with polenta or mashed potatoes. Enjoy!