Mattia
Goulash alla Triestina
(Beef Stew Trieste Style)

Makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients

¼ cup olive oil
2 pounds beef chuck, cut into 2” pieces
2 large onions, thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
½ teaspoon paprika
3 to 4 bay leaves, crumbled
¼ cup red wine vinegar
2 cups dry Mattia (or another full-bodied red wine)
2 cups canned imported Italian tomatoes with their juice, put through a strainer or food mill to remove the seeds
1 ½ cups meat broth, preferably homemade (see below)

Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the meat and cook, stirring, until it is lightly golden on all sides, 4-5 minutes. Transfer the meat to a plate, reduce the heat to medium and add the onions. Cook and stir until the onions are lightly golden, 4-5 minutes.

Return the meat to the skillet and season with salt and pepper. Add the paprika, bay leaves, and vinegar, and stir once or twice. Add the wine and cook, stirring, until it is reduced by half, 6 – 7 minutes.

Add the tomatoes and 1 cup of the meat broth and mix well with the other ingredients. Cover the skillet, leaving it slightly askew and reduce the heat to low. Simmer 1 to 1 ½ hours, stirring a few times. If the sauce dries out too much during cooking, add some more meat broth. (At the end of the cooking time, the meat should be so tender that it can be cut with a fork)

Homemade Meat Broth

Ingredients
4 pounds bones and meat scraps from beef, chicken and veal
Few fresh parsley sprigs
2 carrots, cut into chunks
2 stalks celery, cut into chunks
1 small onion, quartered
2 ripe tomatoes, quartered
Salt to taste

Put all the ingredients, except the salt, into a large stockpot and cover by 2-3 inches with cold water. Set the cover of the pot askew and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and skim the scum that comes to the surface of the water with a slotted spoon or skimmer. Simmer 3 to 3 ½ hours. Season with salt during the last few minutes of cooking. Best do make this one day ahead of time and refrigerate it overnight – the next day remove all the fat that has solidified on the surface. If you’re going to use the broth straight away, strain through a strainer to another pot.

Courtesy of Trattoria Cooking, Biba Caggiano