Tender beef braised in Barolo wine, a dry and robust red Italian wine, is a hearty rustic main dish from the Piedmont region of Italy. Key to getting a rich flavor is simple steps to searing the meat, caramelizing the veg and pre-cooking the wine to remove the sour alcohol flavor. This is a dish best made a day ahead and let rest overnight to let all the delicious liquids infuse the meat.
Inspired by Italy’s Peidmont Region
Piedmont is a region in northwestern Italy, bordered by France, Switzerland, and the Alps. Its name literally means “at the foot of the mountain”. Famous for its culinary excellence, world-class wines (like Barolo). Brasato al Barolo is this regions slow-cooked beef pot roast simmered for hours in a full bottle of the region’s famous Barolo red wine.
Wine Pairing
Original Pairing: Alessandria Barbera D’Alba from Piedmont
General Pairing: Barolo, Barbera, Cabernet, Syrah (deep, hearty reds)
Special Ingredients
Hearty Red Wine
We used a more affordable Barolo wine, but those are not always easy to find. Ideally, a dry, full-bodied red wine (Cabernet, Merlot,Syrah) is best to provide acidity to break down the beef.
Beef Cuts
For Brasato al Barolo (beef braised in Barolo), you want a well-marbled, tough cut of meat loaded with connective tissue. As it braises for hours, the connective tissue melts, yielding an incredibly tender and flavorful roast. On plus side, these cuts of meat are usually more budget friendly.
- Beef Chuck Roast: The absolute top pick. It has unbelievable marbling that breaks down perfectly during a slow braise. You can use a center-cut chuck or a chuck eye roast
- Beef Brisket: A classic choice that holds its shape beautifully while becoming fall-apart tender.
- Bottom Round or Flat Iron: Excellent alternatives if you prefer a slightly leaner roast.
Planning the dish
This is a dish that tastes better the day (or even two) after you make it, as the flavors meld together and the beef relaxes in the juices. It is also easier to slice the meat while it is still cold. This lets you make it ahead of time (1-2 days) and keep well in the refrigerator. I avoided freezing it, as I didn’t want to risk changing the texture.
Timing the Elements
1-2 Days Prior: Make dish and refrigerate overnight
Day of Event: prep garnishes
45 min to serve: slice beef and place in oven safe dish with 1/2 the juices so beef is sitting in at least 1 inch of juice (add some beef broth if needed). Cover with foil or safe lid and heat up in oven.
30 min to serve: heat up any sides you are serving (such as Polenta Concia & Roasted Carrots). Make gravy.
Serve: plate meat, sauce, sides and garnish
Plating Tips
The beef will loosen up a lot once heated. Try to keep large chunks or sliced intact.
You can serve it stand alone or over a starch. It is traditional to serve it with polenta, so we did an enriched polenta, Polenta Concia, in a pretty vintage themed bowl. Next, a drizzle of gravy over the beef. Then layered baby roasted carrots halves and finely chopped parsley.
Italian dishes are often not too fussy. The focus is to let the food shine through, so we generally limit garnishing to just a little flair.
vintage bowl
(see Wares section for plating supplies & ideas)
Pairing Alterations
Wine: Cook with your Pairing
You can use any dry bold wine to make this dish. Consider using the wine you planning on serving in the dish itself. Though the wine changes as it is cooked, it will overall pair well.
Spice Mix
There are some very fragrant spiced used in this dish: clove, juniper and rosemary. These add a very unique profile to this dish. However, if that doesn’t fit well with the wine you wish to serve it with, you can omit one of these – using a bit more of the other. For example, if clove is not working for you, don’t use it and instead add extra rosemary. But I would say, for this dish, consider changing your wine to one that does go well with clove.
Recipe
Brasato al Barolo (Beef Braised in Barolo Wine)
Equipment
- 1 large dutch oven
Ingredients
- 3 lbs One 3-lb (1.3 Kg) piece of beef
- 2 tbsp large flake kosher salt
- 1 bottle dry, bold red wine Barolo
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil high heat, for searing
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 large carrot, diced
- 1 rib celery, diced
- 1 sprig rosemary
- 2 cloves garlic, pealed left whole
- 3 juniper berries
- 4 whole cloves
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 2-3 cups beef broth low sodium
Instructions
Prep Beef
- Tie the meat with butcher’s twine so it will keep its shape.
- Salt meat well with flaky kosher salt. Let rest for a few minute and allow to reach close to room temp
Reduce Wine
- In pot, pour bottle of wine, use medium-high heat to come to a boil. Keep watch so it does not overboil.
- Lower heat and allow wine to simmer for at least 15 minutes. This will evaporate much of the alcohol, removing any sour taste out of the wine.
- At this time, preheat the oven to 325 degree F.
Sear Beef and Vegetables
- Heat 2 Tbsp. of vegetable oil in a heavy-bottomed stockpot or Dutch oven.
- Sear meat over high flame on all sides (top, bottom, and sides). 3-5 minutes a side to get a good dark color. Pull beef out and set aside i a bowl or prep pan.
- Add extra virgin olive oil to the pan and then add in diced carrots, celery, onion and garlic. Let cook to gain some golden brown color (but not burning) for about 10 minutes.
Finish Broth Base
- Pour in about 1 cup of the reduced wine to deglaze the pot. Use a spoon or spatula to scrap around to get all the brown bits up from around the bottom and sides.
- Add remaining wine, 1 cup of beef broth and all herbs and spices and pepper. Stir well.
- Gently add beef in and nestle is on top of veg mix. Carefully pour in more beef broth until just covers top of roast.
- Lower the heat to medium. Cover the pot with a tight-fitting lid and let it come to a boil.
Braise in Oven
- With the lid on, place the pot in the oven (it should be at 325 degrees F) to braise for 3 hours.
- Halfway through, check on pot. It should be simmering, and there should be enough liquid cover the beef almost to the top. Adjust temp if needed and add more beef broth if needed.
Rest Beef
- Once meat is fork tender, bring pot out of oven and let rest on stove top for 20 minutes.
- Place beef in large container where it can be covered.
- Let it rest there while making the gravy.
Make Gravy Base
- Strain liquid from pot using a colander over a bowl. Do not throw anything away.
- From the solids, pick out the hard herb pieces (bay leaf, rosemary stem, clove, juniper berries) and discard.
- Add the remaining vegetable solid back to in to the liquid. Using a wand blender or a traditional blender, blend the vegetables in the liquid to a puree.
- Pour this liquid over the beef and other containers (if more room is needed).
- Refridgerate beef and gravy base overnight or up to 2 days
Reheating and Serving
- Heat oven to 350 degrees F
- Take beef out of fridge container and onto a cutting board. Remove twine.
- While it is cold and firm, slice beef against the grain to about 1/4 inch pieces. You can go thicker but not much thinner or it will fall apart when heated.
- Using a oven dish or cake pan, place the sliced beef in the pan. Over lap the slices a bit if you need to fit it all in.
- Mix 1 cup of dish liquid with 1 cup of beef broth. Pour over meat (it should sit in the liquid but not be fully submerged). Cover with aluminum foil.
- Place meat in oven and allow to come up to temp. Check at 30 minutes to see if steaming and hot. You want it hot to serve, but not dry.
Reduce Gravy
- While beef is in the oven, place all the remaining and extra gravy base into a pot.
- Heat up over medium high heat to a boil. You will want to reduce to thicken it.
- Regular check gravy for both how thick it is becoming and how salty it taste. If it is getting to the point where it is very salty, stop reducing immediately.
- To thicken gravy further (without reducing) create a well mixed slurry of 2 tbsp corn starch and 2 tbsp cold water. With gravy at a simmer, add 1 tbsp of slurry and stir in. Allow to simmer, while stirring, for a minute to see how well it is thickening. Repeat 1 tbsp of slurry at time until your get desired thickness. You want a pourable sauce that runs over the meat.
Plate & Serve
- When beef is just hot enough to serve, carefully remove slices from oven pan using a spatula (to try to keep pieces whole).
- Plate meat by itself or over accompanying side such as polenta, mashed potates, rice or pasta.
- Next pour some prepared gravy over meat slices.
- Garnish as desired (a bit of parsley is nice) and serve.
