After the recipes on how to make ragù and meatballs, as well as Alessia’s cookie recipe, we want to suggest yet another dish to pair with our most powerful wines such as the Riserva, la Gran Selezione, and IGT Monteficalle.
It is a traditional Tuscan veal stew that has its origin in Impruneta, a village located just outside of Florence on the road toward Chianti. Impruneta is known for its terracotta production.
In the XV century, there was a great need for terracotta bricks to build the Brunelleschi Dome, that is the Duomo in Florence. As a result, the kiln workers (so-called fornacini in Italian) had to work considerably longer shifts. It seems that the peppery veal stew (peposo) was born during this period as a dish that made it possible to turn the meat of the third category cuts into a tender and tasty dish. In that way, the workers could get sustenance to work the long hours.
The workers prepared this kind of peppery stew by having it cooked for several hours in the kiln openings while they were working, therefore it is called Peposo alla Fornacina. In fact, the commune of Impruneta has instituted a special regulation to safeguard this precious dish.
Ingredients
- 2 kg of veal meat (the muscle) cut in large cubes
- 1 bottle of Chianti Classico
- 8 tablespoon of Extra Virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoon of ground pepper
- 2 tablespoon of peppercorns
- 2 cloves of garlic
- Salt to taste
Preparation
Pour the oil in a large pan and brown the meat well by adding the cubes little by little and leaving them only a couple of minutes in the pan on high heat.
Once all of the meat is browned, put it in the pan and add the entire garlic, the pepper, and a bottle of Chianti Classico.
Let the stew cook on very low heat covered with a lid for at least 1.5 hours. Thereafter, remove the lid and let it simmer for another 2 or 3 hours until the veal meat gets tender and the liquid turns into a thick sauce.
Add just enough salt while cooking. If the meat gets too dry before the stew has finished simmering, you may add a bit of warm water.