Stracotto

Name: Stracotto (Beef Braised in Red Wine)
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: Australian
Ingredients: 1 x 2 cm piece cinnamon stick; 10 black pepperorns; 2 fresh bay leaves; 100 ml extra virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling; plain flour, for dusting; 1 x 1.5 kg beef oyster blade, already trimmed of fat and membrane; 2 star anise; 1 carrot, chopped; 1 stalk celery, chopped; 2 cloves garlic, chopped; 1 small leek, white part only, washed well, chopped; 2 sprigs rosemary; 2 sprigs thyme; 6 juniper berries; 2 cloves; 1 litre heavy red wine, plus extra if needed to cover; 4 onions, chopped; ¼ cup (60 ml) cold water; ¼ cup (35 g) cornflour; 1 x 200 g piece flat pancetta, cut into 2 cm cubes; 2 litres Chicken Stock

Beef Braised in Red Wine

Preparation info

Serves
6

Difficulty
Easy

Appears in

A Lombardian Cookbook

By Alessandro Pavoni and Roberta Muir

Published 2015

About

My nonna used to make this old-fashioned dish with donkey meat – I’ve adapted it for Australia by using oyster blade steak. The quality of the wine will dictate the quality of this dish – we would use a Barolo or a Barbera in Italy. You could use an Australian shiraz or cabernet sauvignon, not a light wine like chianti or pinot noir. This would traditionally be served with soft polenta – of course! Start this recipe a day ahead of cooking to gi