CARBONADE DI VALLE D’AOSTA

Serves: 6

Prep: 10 minutes

Cook: 3 1/2 hours

Ingredients:

2 1/2 lb chuck roast in one piece or cut in pieces as in stew

Flour for dredging

4 Tbsp. Butter

1 Tbsp. Olive Oil

3 Onions – very coarsely chopped or sliced

3 cloves garlic –chopped

2 Bay Leaves

1 large piece of fresh Orange Peel

4 Sprigs of Fresh Thyme

1 Cinnamon Stick

2 Whole Cloves

2 Tsp. Brown Sugar

1/4 Tsp freshly grated nutmeg

2 c. Red Wine – dry

1/2 c. Beef stock

8 oz. assorted wild mushrooms

Salt and Pepper to taste

3 Tbsp. Butter

 

Instructions:

Whether you use the chuck roast in one whole piece or cut up into smaller pieces, pat the beef dry and dredge it in the flour.

Brown the beef in the oil and butter – add a little more if the pan gets dry.

Remove beef from the pan after browning and set aside.

In the same pan, cook the onion and garlic about 3 minutes on medium high.

Place the beef back in the pan with the onion.

Add the the bay leaves, cinnamon stick, cloves, sugar, thyme, nutmeg, and orange peel.

Pour the wine and stock into the pan and add salt and pepper to taste. (At this point, if you prefer to use a slow cooker, you can do so – cooking on low setting for about 8 hours)

Simmer covered for about 3 hours until the meat is tender. Add the wild mushrooms after about 2 hours into the cooking.

When finished, remove the bay leaves and the thyme sprigs and discard them. It is important to remove the bay leaves as they can cause choking. As always, test for seasoning and adjust as necessary. Make sure to add enough salt to bring out the flavors.

If you want a thicker sauce, you can always use the immersion blender – but in my opinion, it is nicer and more interesting with the onions and mushrooms left as they are.

Stir in the butter, and let it melt into the sauce.

To serve the Carbonade di Valle d’Aosta: If you opted to cook the roast as a whole, remove it before serving and slice. As stated in the text portion above the recipe, you can serve this in different ways. It is lovely over polenta, garlic mashed potatoes, or pappardelle noodles.