Spezzatino in bianco is an Italian veal stew made without tomato and cooked slowly in white wine and stock with dried porcini. Growing up in Rome, my mother made a large quantity in the winter months for our Sunday lunch, then repurposed it during the week.

Not all Italian stews are made with tomato sauce, and spezzatino in bianco is one of them.

It was a dish my mother made in the winter months, and it was often on our table for Sunday lunch.

She added dried porcini to give the sauce more flavor.

Spezzatino is a long cooking method, where the meat cooks slowly at a gentle heat for a long time.

It is used for tough cuts of meat with a lot of connective tissue, which need that time to become tender.

There are two ways to do it.

Stracotto (stew): the liquid covers the meat completely, and spezzatino in bianco is cooked this way.
Brasato (braise): the meat sits only partly in the liquid, and the part above it browns in the oven.

For more stew and braise recipes, you can also find my ossobuco alla Milanese, maiale al latte, lamb shank ragu, beef pot pie with Marsala, wild boar stew with chocolate and beef daube provençal.

Ingredients

Veal: choose a well-worked cut with a lot of connective tissue, like shank, round or chuck. The connective tissue melts during the long cooking, which makes the meat tender and the sauce creamy. I explain these cuts in my beef pot pie with Marsala. Beef or lamb work as well.
Flour: it makes the sauce creamy and thicker, and it helps the meat brown.
Olive oil: an everyday olive oil for cooking is all you need here.
Soffritto: onion, carrot and celery give the stew its aromatic base.
Dried porcini: they give the sauce more flavor, and so does the water they soak in.
White wine: it lifts the browned bits from the bottom of the pot, and they flavor the sauce.
Stock: beef or veal stock. I prefer my homemade brown stock, as it has more flavor than store-bought. If you buy it, check whether it is salted.
Potatoes (optional): they turn the stew into a complete meal.
Salt: how much you need depends on whether your stock is salted.

You can find the measurements in the recipe card below.

The right pot

A heavy, high-sided cast-iron pot is best for a stracotto, because it holds the heat and releases it slowly.

I usually cook it in my Le Creuset cast-iron casserole.

For a small amount like this one, it is too big, so I used my Brazilian soapstone pot.

Like cast iron, soapstone retains the heat and distributes it evenly and gently.

Step by step instructions

Soak the dried porcini in the water for 20 minutes.
Coat the veal in the flour.
Brown the floured veal in the oil on all sides and season it with salt. Browning does not seal the meat, but the browned bits dissolve into the wine when you deglaze and add flavor to the sauce.
Add the soffritto and cook it with the meat.
Pour in the white wine and let it evaporate.
Add the stock, the porcini and their soaking water, so the meat is covered. Check whether your stock is salted, and if it is not, add more salt with it.
Cover and cook gently for 1 and a half hours.
Remove the lid and cook for another 30 minutes if you want to reduce the sauce. To serve it as a complete meal, add the potatoes at this point.

Serving suggestions

In this recipe, I serve spezzatino in bianco with risotto pilaf.

It is also good with polenta, gnocchi alla Romana or chunky potato gnocchi.

With potatoes in the stew, it is a complete meal on its own.

With the leftovers, I make a pasta dinner during the week.

I warm up the stew in a pot, boil the pasta and pour the stew over it.

Frequently asked questions

Can I make spezzatino in bianco with beef or lamb? Yes, it can be made with beef or lamb, and the cooking time is the same.

Why do you flour the meat? Flouring the meat makes the sauce creamy.

What is the difference between a stracotto and a brasato? In a stracotto the meat cooks completely covered by the liquid. In a brasato it is only partly covered, and the exposed part browns in the oven.

What do I serve with spezzatino in bianco? I serve it with risotto pilaf, and it is also good with polenta, gnocchi alla Romana or chunky potato gnocchi. With potatoes added to the stew, it becomes a complete meal.

What can I do with the leftovers? I use them to make a pasta dinner during the week. Warm up the stew in a pot, boil the pasta and pour the stew over it.

Is spezzatino in bianco a regional dish? Not specifically. Tomatoes only came to Italy from the Americas, so before that, stews were never made with tomato sauce. Each region would use their local ingredients.

Which cut of veal is best for spezzatino in bianco? A well-worked cut with a lot of connective tissue, like shank, round or chuck.

Which stock do you use? Beef or veal stock. I prefer my homemade brown stock.

More stew recipes

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