Chef Graziella
Abbacchio a Scottadito
Roman lamb chops grilled over scorching heat, seasoned with nothing but salt, rosemary, and fire. You eat them with your hands, straight from the grill, burning your fingers because you cannot wait.
Culinary Explorer
A cooking platform built around craft, culture, and the stories behind what we eat.
Pastissada de Manzo alla Veronese
Created by
Verona's ancient braise, older than Italy itself, where beef surrenders to Amarone over hours of patient simmering until wine and meat become inseparable. Served always with soft polenta, as the Veronese have done for generations beyond counting.
Main Dishes
Italian, Venetian
Comfort Food
Make Ahead
Dinner Party
45 min
Active Time
4 hr cook•4 hr 45 min total
Yield6 servings
Every dish has a home. This one belongs to Verona, and to Verona alone. The rest of Italy has its brasati and stracotti, but pastissada is something different, something older. The wine does not merely flavor the meat. It transforms it over hours of slow heat until you cannot taste where one ends and the other begins.
The traditional version uses horse meat. I know this troubles some American sensibilities, so I give you the beef preparation, which the Veronese also make and which achieves nearly the same depth. Nearly. If you find yourself in Verona and see pastissada de caval on the menu, have the courage to order it. You will understand.
What you keep out matters here as much as anywhere. There is no tomato. There is no garlic. The spices are whole and restrained: bay, clove, cinnamon, peppercorn. They perfume the braise without announcing themselves. The wine is Amarone, the great dried-grape red of Valpolicella, and it must be a wine you would drink. Never cook with wine you would not put in a glass.
This dish cannot be rushed. If you do not have four hours for cooking and a day for marinating, make something else. Come back to this when you have time to give it what it demands.
Legend traces pastissada to 489 AD, when the Ostrogoth king Theodoric defeated Odoacer at the Battle of Verona. So many horses fell that the citizens preserved the meat by marinating it in wine. Whether the story is true matters less than what it reveals: this is a dish born from necessity and elevated through centuries of refinement. It predates the tomato's arrival in Italy by a thousand years, which explains why authentic pastissada contains none.
The technique, the tradition, and the story behind every dish.
Discover Culinary ExplorerIngredients
beef chuck roast
Quantity
3 pounds
cut into 2-inch pieces
Amarone della Valpolicella
Quantity
1 bottle (750ml)
yellow onion
Quantity
1 large
diced
carrots
Quantity
2 medium
peeled and diced
celery stalks
Quantity
2
diced
unsalted butter
Quantity
4 tablespoons
extra virgin olive oil
Quantity
2 tablespoons
bay leaves
Quantity
2
whole cloves
Quantity
4
cinnamon stick
Quantity
1
black peppercorns
Quantity
6
fresh rosemary
Quantity
1 sprig
kosher salt
Quantity
to taste
soft polenta
Quantity
for serving
| Ingredient | Quantity |
|---|---|
| beef chuck roastcut into 2-inch pieces | 3 pounds |
| Amarone della Valpolicella | 1 bottle (750ml) |
| yellow oniondiced | 1 large |
| carrotspeeled and diced | 2 medium |
| celery stalksdiced | 2 |
| unsalted butter | 4 tablespoons |
| extra virgin olive oil | 2 tablespoons |
| bay leaves | 2 |
| whole cloves | 4 |
| cinnamon stick | 1 |
| black peppercorns | 6 |
| fresh rosemary | 1 sprig |
| kosher salt | to taste |
| soft polenta | for serving |
Equipment Needed
- •Heavy 6-quart Dutch oven with tight-fitting lid
- •Fine-mesh strainer
- •Large ceramic or glass bowl for marinating
Instructions
- 1
Marinate the beef
Place the beef pieces in a deep ceramic or glass bowl. Pour the entire bottle of Amarone over the meat. The wine should nearly cover it. Add the bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon stick, and peppercorns to the marinade. Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 12 hours, preferably 24. Turn the meat once or twice during this time. The wine begins its work of tenderizing and flavoring long before heat is applied.
Do not skip or shorten the marinade. The character of this dish depends on the meat absorbing the wine's complexity over time. Patience here is not optional. - 2
Prepare for braising
Remove the beef from the marinade and pat each piece thoroughly dry with paper towels. Wet meat will not brown properly. Strain the marinade through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl, reserving both the liquid and the whole spices. Let the meat come to room temperature for 30 minutes before cooking.
- 3
Brown the beef
In a heavy Dutch oven, heat two tablespoons of butter with the olive oil over medium-high heat until the butter foam subsides. Working in batches to avoid crowding, brown the beef pieces on all sides. This takes 3 to 4 minutes per batch. The crust should be deep mahogany, not pale. Transfer browned meat to a plate. Do not rush this step. Do not crowd the pan.
- 4
Build the soffritto
Reduce heat to medium. Add the remaining two tablespoons of butter to the pot. When melted, add the onion, carrots, and celery. Cook slowly, stirring occasionally, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pot. These fond are concentrated flavor. Continue until the vegetables are soft and golden, about 15 minutes. The soffritto is the foundation. Build it properly.
The combination of butter and olive oil is traditional in Veneto cooking. Neither alone achieves what both together accomplish. - 5
Combine and braise
Return the beef and any accumulated juices to the pot. Nestle the meat among the vegetables. Pour the reserved marinade over everything. Add the reserved whole spices and the rosemary sprig. The liquid should come about two-thirds up the sides of the meat. If needed, add a splash of water. Bring to a gentle simmer, then cover tightly and reduce heat to the lowest setting. The surface should show only the occasional lazy bubble.
- 6
Slow cook until tender
Braise in the covered pot for 3 to 4 hours, checking occasionally to ensure the liquid barely simmers. Turn the meat once halfway through. The pastissada is ready when the beef yields completely to a fork, nearly falling apart at the touch. The sauce will have reduced and darkened to a deep wine-brown. If it reduces too much before the meat is tender, add water, not more wine.
You may braise this in a 300°F oven instead of on the stovetop. The oven provides more even heat. The timing remains the same. - 7
Finish the sauce
Transfer the beef to a warm platter. Fish out and discard the bay leaves, cinnamon stick, rosemary sprig, and any cloves or peppercorns you can find. If the sauce seems thin, simmer it uncovered for several minutes until it coats a spoon. Taste and adjust salt. The sauce should be rich, concentrated, and deeply savory with the haunting sweetness of reduced Amarone.
- 8
Serve properly
Pastissada must be served with soft polenta. This is not a suggestion. Spoon the polenta onto warm plates, making a well in the center. Place the beef in the well and spoon the sauce generously over both meat and polenta. The polenta absorbs the sauce, the meat falls apart at the fork, and you understand why Verona has made this dish for fifteen centuries.
Chef Tips
- •Amarone is expensive. Do not substitute an inferior wine thinking no one will notice. The wine is the dish. A young Valpolicella Ripasso makes an acceptable substitute if Amarone is beyond reach, but never use cooking wine.
- •The dish improves dramatically after a night in the refrigerator. Make it a day ahead for a dinner party. Reheat gently, covered, adding a splash of water if the sauce has thickened too much.
- •Chuck roast provides the ideal balance of meat and connective tissue for braising. Do not use lean cuts. The fat and collagen create the unctuous texture that defines proper pastissada.
- •Some Veronese cooks pass the vegetables through a food mill after cooking to create a smoother sauce. Both versions are correct. I prefer the sauce with visible vegetables, but this is your kitchen.
Advance Preparation
- •The marinating period is built into the recipe: 12 to 24 hours in advance, refrigerated.
- •The completed pastissada keeps beautifully for 4 days refrigerated. The flavor deepens with each passing day.
- •It freezes well for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat gently with a splash of water to restore the sauce's consistency.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nutrition Information
1 serving (about 300g)
Calories
720 calories
Total Fat
43 g
Saturated Fat
18 g
Trans Fat
0 g
Unsaturated Fat
23 g
Cholesterol
200 mg
Sodium
700 mg
Total Carbohydrates
8 g
Dietary Fiber
1 g
Sugars
4 g
Protein
44 g
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