Artusi gives a number of recipes for making an arrosto morto (a dry heat pot roast) in his Scienza in Cucina e L’Arte di Mangiar Bene. This pot roast with rosemary and garlic is especially well suited to flavorful cuts of meat.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours,
Ingredients:
- Veal or Beef (see below for proportions)
- Broth or tomato sauce
- Butter and Olive oil
Preparation:
A basic potroast from Artusi:You can use the following method for any sort of meat, though I feel that it works best with suckling calf. Take a good-sized piece of loin, with the kidney attached. Roll it and tie the meat with a string so it stays together, and set it in a pot with small amounts of good oil and butter. Once the meat has browned on all sides, salt it, and add just enough broth to simmer it until done; there should be almost no liquid left when it is.
You will find that the absence of the aroma and flavor imparted by the spit is compensated by the roast's delicacy and tenderness. In the absence of broth, use tomato sauce or paste diluted in water. If you prefer the meat more flavorful, mince a few slices of pancetta and cook them with the meat.
He goes on to say,
If you like garlic and rosemary, but don't like their habit of returning to haunt you, don't follow the example of those who stick chicken, fillets, or other meats with cloves of garlic and sprigs of rosemary. Rather, cook the meat as described above, throwing a whole clove of garlic and a sprig or rosemary into the pot. When you serve the roast, strain the pan juices; you can, if you wish, serve the meat with potatoes or greens reheated in them. In this case, you may want to flavor the meat with a tiny amount of tomato sauce or paste.
Leg of lamb, cooked this way with coals on the lid, comes out very well. (Artusi was writing in the days of the wood burning stove; If you chose to use an oven, preheat it to 300° and cook the meat, covered, for 2-3 hours.)
A wine? Red: A good Chianti Classico Riserva, or a Brunello.
