Don’t you love dishes you can pop in the oven or simmer on the stove for hours? They require some initial prep, but then become worry-free, making them great meals for entertaining and for relaxing dinners at home. These kinds of meals tend to consist of comfort foods and I think all cultures have them. The Italians certainly do. Here’s a simple recipe for Wine Braised Short Ribs. It’s one I’ve adapted from a special issue of Saveur Magazine called Authentic Italian from 2007. I’ve simplified it, and changed the variety of wine as well as the cut of beef.
The original recipe calls for the use of Amarone wine. Don’t get me wrong; I LOVE (underscore/bold!!) Amarone, but it can be a bit spendy. So I’m using a bottle of Neprica instead from the Tormaresca winery in Puglia. This wine is readily available in the U.S. and very reasonably priced. Really, any dry red wine will do for this dish.
Let's get started. Get out a nice braising pot and pour in half a bottle of your red wine.
The original recipe calls for the use of Amarone wine. Don’t get me wrong; I LOVE (underscore/bold!!) Amarone, but it can be a bit spendy. So I’m using a bottle of Neprica instead from the Tormaresca winery in Puglia. This wine is readily available in the U.S. and very reasonably priced. Really, any dry red wine will do for this dish.
Let's get started. Get out a nice braising pot and pour in half a bottle of your red wine.
The ingredients are quite simple. In addition to your bottle of wine, you’ll need:
1) The Holy Trinity of vegetables; carrots, onions and celery….and a clove of garlic.
2) The aromatics: lemon zest, fresh rosemary and sage, and two bay leaves.
3) Boneless short ribs (I used about a pound and a half) salt and pepper, about 1 ½ cups of vegetable or beef broth and some olive oil.
1) The Holy Trinity of vegetables; carrots, onions and celery….and a clove of garlic.
2) The aromatics: lemon zest, fresh rosemary and sage, and two bay leaves.
3) Boneless short ribs (I used about a pound and a half) salt and pepper, about 1 ½ cups of vegetable or beef broth and some olive oil.
The recipe begins with the vegetables. Just chop them all up and mince your garlic clove. Slide it all off your cutting board into your pot of wine.
Next, we’ll add some aromatics. Zest half of a lemon, mince up some fresh rosemary and fresh sage, and add two whole bay leaves. Again, slide it all off into the wine pot with the vegetables.
Generously season your short ribs with salt and pepper then nestle them down into the wine pot. Add the 1 ½ cups of broth and drizzle a nice dose of olive oil over the whole thing. See how easy this is?
Your work is just about done. Bring it to a simmer over medium high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low, cover and let it simmer away for 3-4 hours, until the meat is very tender. Now you can start sipping on the remainder of the bottle of wine :) Every once in a while, you can turn the meat over. When it’s done, remove the meat to a plate with tongs. Use an immersion blender stick to puree some of the veg. Put the meat back in and turn up the heat again without covering the pot, to reduce the sauce and thicken it up a bit. This takes just a couple of minutes.
Next, we’ll add some aromatics. Zest half of a lemon, mince up some fresh rosemary and fresh sage, and add two whole bay leaves. Again, slide it all off into the wine pot with the vegetables.
Generously season your short ribs with salt and pepper then nestle them down into the wine pot. Add the 1 ½ cups of broth and drizzle a nice dose of olive oil over the whole thing. See how easy this is?
Your work is just about done. Bring it to a simmer over medium high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low, cover and let it simmer away for 3-4 hours, until the meat is very tender. Now you can start sipping on the remainder of the bottle of wine :) Every once in a while, you can turn the meat over. When it’s done, remove the meat to a plate with tongs. Use an immersion blender stick to puree some of the veg. Put the meat back in and turn up the heat again without covering the pot, to reduce the sauce and thicken it up a bit. This takes just a couple of minutes.
Ta-dah! It’s ready! Make sure you have a nice loaf of bread to serve with it….you’ll want to sop up every bit of the rich sauce. A hearty dish like this deserves a hearty red wine. We served a Montefalco Sagrantino from Colpetrone, another of my very favorite Italian wines. (If you're not familiar with it, you will be if you're coming on the October tour.) Buon Appetito!
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