Stracotto alla Romana is a traditional Italian recipe (from Rome) for a slow-cooked stew of beef in a tomato and red wine base flavoured with bay leaves. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Italian version of: Stracotto alla Romana.
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The Italian word stracotto means overcooked because the meat is cooked for a long time until extremely tender that almost melts in your mouth. This recipe is also known as stracotto di manzo with 'manzo' meaning beef.
The origin of this dish is in the Jewish population of Rome. I usually use beef shin for this dish as it's well suited for slow cooking and is an economical cut but you could just as well use stewing steak such as chuck.
Ingredients:
1kg stewing beef (eg shin or braising steak [chuck]), cut into chunks
750g passata (or tomato sauce)
250g onion (thinly sliced)
240ml red wine
50ml extra-virgin olive oil
2-3 bay leaves (optional)
salt and freshly-ground black pepper (to taste)
Method:
Generously season the meat all over with salt and ground black pepper.
Place a large braising pan over medium-high heat. Once hot add the olive oil and use to fry the meatuntil no longer pink (about 10 minutes).
Add the sliced onion and fry together with the meat for about 5 minutes or until the onions become slightly tender.
Pour in the wine and mix thoroughly to combine. Keep cooking for another 5 minutes stirring constantly.
Add the passata sauce and pour in enough water so that the liquid just covers the meat. Add the bay leaves and bring the liquid to a boil.
Reduce the heat and allow to simmer for 3 hours, mixing from time to time and adding more water as needed.
When the meat has become very tender and the onions have fully broken down and melted into the sauce, uncover the pot and continue cooking, uncovered until the sauce has thickened to your preferred consistency.
Adjust the seasonings to taste then turn off the heat and allow the stew to rest on the hob for 10 minutes before serving.
Serve the stracotto with your favourite crusty bread or accompany with pasta.
