Beef in Red Wine (Lombardy)

Meat

Ingredients

Stewing beef, in one piece- 3- 3 1/2 pounds

Pickled pork belly- 1/4 pound

Flour

Butter- 6 tbsp

Onion, finely chopped- 1 small

Bay leaf- 1

Marinade:

Carrots, diced- 2

Onion, thinly sliced- 1 small

Celery, chopped- 1 stalk

Garlic, crushed- 1 clove

Bay leaf- 1

Cloves-2

Barbera or barolo wine- 2 1/2 cups

Grated nutmeg

Salt and pepper

A stufato is a rich beef stew and one of the important Italian dishes. There are, naturally, several recipes for its preperation, just as there are many different recipes for making "ragouts" in France. The following version is typical of Lombard cooking.

Lard the meat with half the pork belly, cut into long, thin strips. Tie it into a good shape and marinate it for at least 6 hours - or better still overnight - in the marinade ingredients.

Lift the meat out of its marinade, drain it, wipe it dry and coat lightly with flour. Melt the butter in a large pan, add the remaining pork belly, chopped, and the onion. Saute the onion until it begins to change color, then add the meat and bay leaf, and brown the meat on all sides. Strain the marinade and pour over the meat. Cover the pan tightly and cook over a gentle heat for 3 to 4 hours. The sauce should be fairly thick but it may be necessary to add either some more wine, stock or water.

Leave the meat in the pan in which it has been cooking until the following day. Then reheat it over a moderate heat. Take the meat from the pan, cut it into thick slices and arrange on a hot serving dish. Any remaining sauce may be used to garnish the meat.

Serves 6 to 8.