Stracotto with garlic & pancetta (long cooking Italian wine pot roast)

July 22, 2010

I caught a bit of a stomach virus from one of the drooling kids. It happens, but it’s annoying. This too shall pass, but I don’t feel like eating, much less cooking. So, here is a recipe from the past. I don’t know when I made it, except it was in 2010. It was really good, but that’s the only note I have on it. This takes a long time because it marinates for 24-36 hours, then is slow cooked at a low-ish temperature.

Stracotto with garlic & pancetta
(long cooking Italian wine pot roast)
All about Braising, by Molly Stevens, pg 260

The marinade:

2 T extra virgin olive oil
2 celery stalks, coarsely chopped
2 medium yellow onions (about 12 oz total), coarsely chopped
1 medium carrot, coarsely chopped
1 head garlic, cut crosswise in half
2 bay leaves
two 3-inch leafy rosemary sprigs
½ tsp black peppercorns
one 750 ml bottle fruity dry red wine (like Valpolicella or Chianti)

one 3 ½ to 4 lb boneless beef chuck roast
coarse salt

24-36 hours before:
Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add the celery, onions, and carrots and sauté, stirring intermittently, until the vegetables are tinged with brown, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic, bay leaves, rosemary, and peppercorns. Pour the wine and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes to infuse the wine with the essences of the vegetables. Set aside to cool to room temperature.

Using kitchen twine or string, tie the roast into a neat package. Season all over with 1 tsp coarse salt. Put the roast into a gallon zip bag and place in large dish. Cover with the marinade. Refrigerate for 24-36 hours, turning once.

For the Braise:

2 T extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup grappa or brandy
1 cup beef stock
½ pound pancetta in one piece, about 1 inch thick
freshly ground pepper

Heat the oven to 300˚. Remove the roast from the marinade and place on a rack set over a platter to drain. Reserve the marinade. Pour any drips from the meat back into the marinade and set aside. Wipe the meat thoroughly with paper towels. If it’s damp, it won’t brown properly.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When shimmering, add the meat and sear it on all sides, using tongs to turn it, until mahogany in color. Because of the wine, the sear will be darker than usual. Transfer the meat to a 3 or 4 quart Dutch oven or heavy lidded casserole.

Pour most of the fat from the skillet and discard. Wipe out the pan with a damp paper towels if it appears burnt at all, but if there are any taste looking brown bits, be careful to leave those behind. Return the skillet to medium-high heat and carefully pour in the brandy or grappa (it may ignite, so stand back). Bring to a boil, and scrape the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon to dislodge any bits. Continue to boil until the liquid is reduced to about 2 T, about 3-4 minutes. Strain the marinade into the skillet, reserving the vegetables, and bring to a boil. Boil the marinade until reduced to about 1 cup, about 15 minutes. Add the stock and boil again to reduce down by half, another 15 minutes. Remove from heat.

Tuck the chunk of pancetta under or alongside the roast. Scatter over the reserved vegetables and seasonings, and reach in and push some vegetables under the roast as well. Pour the reduced braising liquid over the roast and cover the pot with a sheet of parchment paper, pressing down so the paper almost touches the meat and the edges extend about 1 inch over the sides of the pot. After the first 15 minutes, check to see that the liquid isn’t simmering too furiously. If it is, lower the over temperature 10 or 15 degrees. Roast until fork tender, about 2 ½ to 3 hours.

Lift the beef from the braising liquid, using a slotted spatula to support it so it doesn’t fall apart, and transfer it to a shallow platter to catch the juices. Strain the braising liquids into a saucepan, reserving the pancetta and garlic and discard the spent aromatics. With a wide spoon, skim as much fat as possible from the braising liquid, and bring to a boil. Simmer vigorously over medium high heat for 10-15 minutes, until the consistency is right. Test and add salt and pepper.

Meanwhile, make the garlic paste and mince the pancetta: Squeeze the garlic from the cloves into a small bowl. Smash into a paste using the tines of a fork. With your hands, pull apart the pancetta. You can keep or toss the fatty part of the pancetta. Add the shredded pancetta to the simmering sauce.

Serve with some sauce over each piece and a bit of the garlic paste.

How I did it: I’ve never been able to pull off the parchment bit of the braise recipes, so I just seal the pan tightly with aluminum foil and place the lid on that.