Beef Casserole with Cloves (Rome)

Meat

Ingredients

Lean beef rump - 2 1/2 pounds

Fat salt pork - 1/4 pound

Garlic, finely chopped - 1 clove

Marjoram, leaves only, finely chopped - 2 sprigs

Salt and pepper

Cloves - 2-3

Sauce:

Ham fat, finely chopped - 1/4 cup

Butter - 1/4 cup

Garlic, crushed - 1 clove

Salt and pepper

Red wine - 2/3 cup

Cloves - 2-3

Onion, finely chopped - 1

Carrots, finely chopped- 2

Celery, finely chopped - 2 stalks

Parsley, finely chopped - 3 sprigs

Tomato paste - 4 tsps

Beat the meat with a cutlet bat to tenderize it. Cut the fat pork into small strips. Mix the chopped garlic and marjoram together, add salt and pepper to taste and roll the strips of pork in this mixture. Make some small incisions all over the meat and insert 2 or 3 cloves and the strips of fat pork. Roll the meat into a neat shape and tie securely.

Sauce: Heat the ham fat and butter together, add the crushed garlic and saute until it browns. Discard the garlic and add the meat to the pan. Brown this gently all over, add salt and pepper and the wine. Continue cooking until the wine has evaporated, then take the meat from the pan and put it aside. Add the remaining cloves, the onion, carrots, celery and parsley to the pan. Cook very gently until the vegetables are tender.

Dilute the tomato paste with a little warm water. Return the meat to the pan and cook over a low heat for another 10 minutes. Add the tomato paste, cover the pan and simmer for 2 hours.

Take the meat from the pan, slice it and serve it as a main course. 

Serves 6