Brasato di Fesa di Vitello del Carnacottaro
It was not often,that one was plump enough in the purse to buy a kilo or so of meat from the butcher, carry it home, and cook it up into some luscious, soulful dish. When fortune placed in one’s purse a few centesimi more than were necessary for subsistence, one sought out the carnacottaro (an itinerant seller of cooked meat).
Recipe information
Yield
serves 6
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
In a large terra-cotta or enameled cast-iron casserole over a lively flame, warm the olive oil and seal the veal, crusting it well on all sides. Remove the veal to a holding plate, sprinkling on the sea salt. Add the sun-dried tomatoes, the olives, and the raisins to the casserole, stirring the ingredients together for about 1 minute before adding the tomato puree and the wine and bringing the sauce to a simmer. Turn down the flame, add the veal, cover the casserole tightly, and, over the quietest flame, permit the liquids to barely simmer around the veal for 1 1/2 hours.
Step 2
Remove the cover and baste the meat, adding a few tablespoonfuls more wine if the liquids seem scant. Replace the lid and braise the veal ever so slowly for an additional 1/2 hour or until the meat is fork-tender.
Step 3
Permit the veal to rest in its sauce, the lid in place, for 1 hour or so before reheating gently.
Step 4
Use a few generous spoonfuls of the good sauce for just-cooked pasta—perhaps ziti or penne cooked to al dente, drained and tossed with a generous dollop of sweet butter and handfuls of just-grated pecorino before adding the sauce.
Step 5
When ready to present the veal, remove it to a deep platter, spooning some of the sauce around it. Carve it into 1/3-inch-thick slices at table and offer the remaining sauce from a small bowl.
Step 6
One might use a loin of pork or a round of beef in place of the veal, extending the braising session a bit longer.
