Stufatino di Manzo alla Romana: A classic Roman beef stew. As is often the case with stews, it provides the wherewithal for an entire meal: use some of the sauce, with grated Parmigiano or pecorino romano, to season pasta, and serve the stew with a second vegetable as a second course.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 1/3-1 1/2 pounds (600-700 g) beef -- from the forequarter, thinly sliced
- Oil or lard (about 1/4 cup)
- Marjoram (several sprigs, fresh, if possible)
- 3/4 cup (200 ml) dry red wine
- Tomatoes (about a pound, I'd say), blanched, peeled and chopped
- 2 1/4 ounces (60 g) prosciutto fat
- 1/2 a medium-sized onion
- 1 clove garlic
- Salt
- Pepper
- Either:
- 3/4 pound (350 g) celery, cleaned, chopped, and partially boiled separately
- Or: 1 1/3 pounds (600 g) cardoons, cleaned, chopped and partially boiled separately
Preparation:
Heat the oil or lard, and melt the prosciutto fat in it. While the fat is melting, mince the onion and the garlic. As soon as the onion begins to brown add the sliced meat. Season with salt, pepper and marjoram, and cook, stirring, until the meat is well browned. Stir in the wine, and once it has evaporated, add the tomatoes. Let cook for a few minutes, then add boiling water to cover.
Cover the pot and simmer for about two hours, adding a little more hot water if the sauce looks to be drying out. A few minutes before the stew is done, stir in the celery and heat them through. Doing so you'll obtain a spezzatino cor sèllero. If you instead opt for cardoons you'll have a stufatino ar gobbo. Thus dictates tradition, to the great delight of Romans.
This tradition is still respected by some Roman restaurants, for example the Osteria del Curato. To serve 6, Cesare Marinotti, the owner's son, heats 2 1/2 pounds (1 k) of beef, from "behind the shank," cut in inch-thick slices. He browns them with minced onion, carrot, and celery [equal volumes, starting from a moderately sized onion], and when they have browned adds a glass of wine and a pound of tomatoes. He then simmers, and when the meat is cooked stirs in 1 1/2 pounds of cleaned, chopped and boiled cardoons. Or, in their absence, not celery, but 1 1/4 pounds of cubed potatoes, boiled separately for 20 minutes and cooked with the stew for 10.
The Wine? A zesty red, for example a Chianti d'annata, or a Lacrima Cristi Rosso.
Cover the pot and simmer for about two hours, adding a little more hot water if the sauce looks to be drying out. A few minutes before the stew is done, stir in the celery and heat them through. Doing so you'll obtain a spezzatino cor sèllero. If you instead opt for cardoons you'll have a stufatino ar gobbo. Thus dictates tradition, to the great delight of Romans.
This tradition is still respected by some Roman restaurants, for example the Osteria del Curato. To serve 6, Cesare Marinotti, the owner's son, heats 2 1/2 pounds (1 k) of beef, from "behind the shank," cut in inch-thick slices. He browns them with minced onion, carrot, and celery [equal volumes, starting from a moderately sized onion], and when they have browned adds a glass of wine and a pound of tomatoes. He then simmers, and when the meat is cooked stirs in 1 1/2 pounds of cleaned, chopped and boiled cardoons. Or, in their absence, not celery, but 1 1/4 pounds of cubed potatoes, boiled separately for 20 minutes and cooked with the stew for 10.
The Wine? A zesty red, for example a Chianti d'annata, or a Lacrima Cristi Rosso.
