Again in this October we need to create a great meal for dinner time! It is starting to be cold so meat can be much of a confort to everyone who comes back home after commuting from a long day at work. What to propose then? Brasato al Barolo is one of the classic Piemontese dishes, made with the fruits of its countryside: a lot of Barolo (or also Chianti, Brunello, Taurasi). A slow dish to cook, almost two hours, but it is worthy to wait for the grande finale!
INGREDIENTS:
3 pounds beef, either rump roast or a similar cut
A bottle of Barolo
A large onion
A large carrot
A stalk of celery
A bay leaf
Peppercorns
Butcher’s twine
2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons prosciutto fat
1/4 cup cognac
Salt to taste.
- The day before you plan actually to cook the meat, slice the onion, celery, and carrot.
- Put them in a bowl with the meat, bay leaf, and peppercorns. Pour the wine and marinate it until the next day.
- Now remove the meat, preserving the marinade, and dry the meat.
- Strain the marinade in a pot, boil it , and cook it until it’s reduced by half. Tie the meat and brown it in a pot with the butter and prosciutto fat.
- Pour some cognac over the meat and light it.
- Season the meat with salt, put the reduced marinade over it, and then add the vegetables, cover everything and simmer over a low heat about two hours. When the meat is ready, put it onto a platter and free it from the string which you have used to tie it up.
- Remove the bay leaf. Remove the vegetables and blend them.
- Degrease the sauce, stir the vegetables into it, and in the end pour all over the meat.
- Serve the dish with mashed potatoes or polenta, coming along with a bottle of…Barolo.
