Italian Veal Stew With No Tomato (Spezzatino in Bianco)
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.
Servings 4 people
Ingredients
- 1 lb Veal shank, round or chuck
- 1 tablespoon Flour
- 1 Onion
- 1 Carrot
- 1 Celery stalk
- 0.7 oz Dried porcini
- ½ cup Water for the dry porcini
- ½ cup White wine
- 1 ¼ cup Beef or veal stock
- 3 tablespoon Olive oil
- 3 medium potatoes
- Salt to taste depending if the stock is salted
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.
- Serve it with a mild side dish (if you didn't add the potatoes)
