Foodies paradise in Dalmatia – part 1
May 7, 2020
Buzara – Dalmatian way of cooking shelves in 15 minutes?
May 7, 2020
Traditional Grandma`s Dalmatian Pašticada
(secret ingredient)
The preparation of “Pašticada” is relatively time-consuming and is usually made for festive occasions. First, the meat must be prepared properly - stuffed (or filled) with vegetables and bacon, coated with mustard, and left overnight in a mixture of red wine, water, and vegetables. The next morning, after the meat has received all the fine aromas, preparation begins, which includes short frying of the meat, steaming the rest of the vegetables, and then cooking for three hours in all the ingredients in a large pot. After finally mixing the ingredients from the sauce and cutting the perfect slices, the Dalmatian Pašticada is ready to serve.
Ingredients:
2.5 kg of beef calf
100 grams of bacon
2 pickles of medium length
300 grams of carrots
80 grams of mustard
150 ml of oil
250 grams of onion
6 cloves of garlic
300 grams of celery root
350 grams of parsley root
150 grams of prunes
650 ml of red wine
200 ml of tomato sauce
4 leaves of laurel
10 grams of dried rosemary or one sprig of fresh rosemary
pepper
salt
Traditional recipe
To make your life easier, first, peel and cut all the ingredients. Peel the pancetta from the foreskin and cut into oblong sticks about 5 millimeters thick. Slice the pickles into sticks the same length as the bacon. Peel the carrots and cut them into chopsticks. Using a narrow knife, make holes in the beef thigh, from the top and bottom, and then fill the holes with sliced sticks (not all three foods need to be in every place - you can mix them up, for example, put pancetta and pickles, pancetta and carrots, and carrots and pickles. Make sure all the wholes you made are stuffed. You don't have to spend everything sliced.
In a large deep pan mix half the amount of wine and water in the same ratio (325 ml of each). Then coat the meat on all sides with the mustard and place it in the pan with wine and water, together with the rest of the sliced pickles, carrots and bacon. Peel the celery root and parsley roots, chop them and put them in a wine pan as well. Insert some rosemary and 2 bay leaves. Cover the pan with transparent foil and leave the meat overnight to cool.
Onion and celery root has to be peeled and cut into larger pieces. Peel parsley root and cut into rings, do the same with carrots.
Pour the oil into a large pan and let it warm. Peel the garlic and cut it in half. Take the meat out of the pan and put it on the hot oil and fry briefly on all sides (10 minutes overall). While the meat is frying, strain the sauce where the meat stood. After 10 minutes, remove the meat from the hot oil and use the same pane to place all the sliced vegetables as well as the vegetables from the pan(where the meat stood). Fry the vegetables with occasional stirring for about 15 minutes. Add dried plums to the pan, pour the wine and water mixture from the overnight sauce, and add the rest of the wine and the tomato sauce. Return the meat to the pan and add the rosemary and laurel leaf. Cover and cook over medium heat for three hours, stirring occasionally. After 3 hours of cooking, remove the meat and cool the sauce briefly. Remove the laurel leaf from the sauce and if a sprig of rosemary is inserted. With a stick mixer, grind the sauce and add a tablespoon of salt and pepper.
Cut the meat into planks about 1 inch thick, and sereve portions of meat, together with a splash of suce from the pan. In Dalmatia, we like our Pašticada with the homemade gnocchi, but if You are not a fan, Pašticada can also be served with any pasta and lettuce. Surprise your family, invite some friends and enjoy this delicious meal with a wide variety of flavors that are perfectly harmonious.
With a secret ingredient, You can accomplish a stronger, richer taste of this dish, unfortunately, my tricky Grandma doesn’t give out her secrets easily. Can You guess what it is?
Ps. If you want to impress with Your cooking skills, you can also make a homemade gnocchi. Let me know if You need an authentic recipe. :)
Dobar tek!
