Stufato (Stew)
- Preparation time: 15 minutes.
- Cooking time: 2 hours.
- One kg beef (silver, chuck, or stewing steak).
- 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil.
- 4 cloves garlic.
- One glass white wine.
- Parsley.
- Salt.
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Cut the meat into cubes. Heat the oil in an aluminium pan over a medium heat. When it begins to smoke, add the meat and brown well on all sides, stirring briskly with a wooden spoon so that it doesn't stick.
Now add the whole garlic cloves and when they become golden, add the wine and let it evaporate rapidly. Add salt, lower the flame and leave to cook slowly covered for two hours until the meat is very tender and a smooth, thick sauce has formed.
If the sauce reduces too much during the cooking time, add half a glass of water or watered-down wine.
Serve hot, sprinkled with chopped parsley. In the autumn, when fresh, porcini mushrooms are available, you could add some slices to the sauce for a special flavour. The stew is also excellent with peas added to the meat about twenty minutes before the end of the cooking time. Another alternative is to add peeled and roughly diced potatoes, but these require and extra half hour to forty minutes to cook.
