Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking - Marcella Hazan [179]
Ahead-of time note Please follow these suggestions.
Veal Stew with Mushrooms
For 4 to 6 servings
3 tablespoons butter
2½ tablespoons vegetable oil
1½ pounds boned veal shoulder or shank, cut into 1½-inch cubes
Flour, spread on a plate
½ cup onion chopped fine
1 large garlic clove, peeled and chopped fine
½ cup dry white wine
½ cup canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
1 or 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary OR 1 teaspoon dried leaves, chopped fine
4 or 5 fresh sage leaves OR 2 or 3 dried whole leaves
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Salt
Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill
½ pound fresh, white button mushrooms
1. Put 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a medium saute pan, and turn on the heat to medium high. When the butter foam begins to subside, turn the veal cubes in the flour, coating them on all sides, shake off excess flour, and put them in the pan. Cook the meat, turning it, until all sides are deeply browned. Transfer it to a plate using a slotted spoon or spatula. (If the meat doesn’t fit loosely into the pan all at one time, brown it in batches, but dip the cubes in flour only when you are ready to slip them into the pan.)
2. Turn the heat down to medium, put in the chopped onion, cook, stirring, until it becomes translucent, then add the garlic. Cook the garlic until it becomes slightly colored, add the wine, and let it bubble for a few seconds. Return the meat to the pan, then add the cut-up tomatoes with their juice, the rosemary, sage, and parsley, liberal pinches of salt, and several grindings of pepper. Adjust heat to cook at a steady, but gentle simmer, and cover the pan. Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes or more, turning the meat from time to time, until the veal is tender enough to be cut with a fork.
3. While the meat is cooking, prepare the mushrooms. Wash them rapidly in cold running water, pat dry with a soft towel, and cut them into irregular ½-inch pieces.
4. Choose a skillet or saute pan just large enough to contain them snugly, but without overlapping. Put in the remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and ½ tablespoon vegetable oil, and turn on the heat to medium. When the butter foam subsides, put in the cut-up mushrooms, and turn up the heat to high. Cook, turning them frequently, until they stop throwing off liquid and the liquid they have already shed has entirely evaporated. They are now ready for the stew.
5. When the stew has cooked for at least 1 hour, put in the mushrooms, tossing them thoroughly with the meat, and cover the pan with the lid slightly ajar. Cook for another 30 minutes or so and, when the meat feels very tender when tested with a fork, transfer the entire contents of the pan to a warm platter, and serve at once.
Ahead-of-time note The dish may be completed several hours in advance the same day you are going to eat it, and reheated gently just before serving.
Skewered Veal Cubes and Pork Sausage Pan-Roasted with Sage and White Wine
THE STYLE in which these tasty skewers are made is called all’uccelletto in Italian because it is the treatment one reserves for uccelletti, small birds: panroasting with pancetta and sage. Ideally, they should be served as one would serve such birds, over hot, soft polenta.
For 6 servings
1¼ pounds mild pork sausage made without strong spices or herbs
20 whole sage leaves, fresh if possible
1 pound boneless shank or shoulder of veal, cut into 1½-inch cubes
½ pound pancetta in a single slice, unrolled and cut into 1½-inch pieces
Approximately 12 skewers, 6 to 8 inches long
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
⅔ cup dry white wine
1. Cut the sausages into pieces 1½ inches long. Skewer the ingredients alternating 1 piece of sausage, 1 fresh sage leaf, 1 piece of veal, and 1 piece of pancetta. At the end you may run short of some of the