Bollito Di Manzo[Boiled Beef]
Submitted by CElm
Classic Italian bollito di manzo: beef brisket slow-simmered for 3 hours with Roma tomatoes, vegetables, and aromatics. Yields fork-tender meat and a rich broth. Serves 6.
Bollito di manzo is one of those recipes that proves Italian cooking isn’t all about olive oil and garlic. Sometimes it’s about putting a big piece of beef in a pot of cold water with some vegetables and letting time do all the heavy lifting.
A 3-pound brisket goes in with celery, carrot, onion, Roma tomatoes, bay leaf, peppercorns, and a beef soup bone. Everything starts in cold water and comes up to a boil slowly, which draws out the proteins that you skim off as froth. Then it simmers, covered, for 3 patient hours.
You get two gifts from one pot: meltingly tender beef that can be sliced and served with salsa verde, mostarda, or just a drizzle of good olive oil, plus a gorgeous light-brown broth that freezes beautifully for soups and risottos.
Chef Tips
- Start with cold water, not boiling. This slow rise in temperature extracts more flavor from the bones and produces a cleaner, richer broth.
- Skim the froth diligently in the first 15 minutes. After that, you can relax.
- Chop the vegetables coarsely. They’re there for flavor, not presentation. They’ll be strained out.
- Serve the beef Italian-style with salsa verde, or use it as the base for recipes like beef pizzaiola or beef salad.
Ingredients
Directions
Beef brisket boiled with seasoning vegetables gives you the extra benefit of the broth to use as needed.
This broth freezes very well.
Chop all vegetables quite coarsely.
Put beef and vegetables in a large pot ( a stock pot is ideal) with cold water to cover.
Bring to a boil slowly over medium-low heat.
As the water boils, remove the froth that forms as much as possible.
Lower heat to simmer, cover the pot, and cook for 3 hours.
The meat will be very tender and the broth a light brown.
Remove meat from the pot and use in any recipe that calls for boiled beef.
Strain broth and use immediately or freeze for future use.
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