Dalmatian Pasticada
Pasticada is one of the most delicious specialties of traditional Dalmatian cuisine. Pot-roasted beef with red wine, prunes, bacon, and vegetables served with homemade gnocchi should be on your “to-eat” list when in Croatia. Also called “The Queen of Dalmatian cuisine”, pasticada’s roots date back to ancient Greek and Roman cuisine, but it was also well known in the Venetian Republic where it was made exclusively for nobility.
In Dalmatia, every household has their own recipe, their own little secret of how to prepare the tastiest pasticada ever and its passed down from generation to generation.
Ingredients
- 1.5 kg beef, top round
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2 onions
- 4 carrots
- 1 celery root
- 10 dried plums
- 80 g smoked bacon
- 150 ml sweet dessert wine (prošek)
- 200 ml red wine
- 1 tsp tomato paste
- 2 tsp sugar
- 6 cloves
- apple cider vinegar
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt and pepper
- 1 l vegetable broth
Preparation
- Wash and wipe the meat. Cut into small thin strips 1 carrot, 2 garlic cloves, and bacon.
- Pierce the meat using a knife and insert the pieces of bacon, garlic, and carrot into the slits.
- Put the meat into a large bowl and pour in the red wine, vinegar, 50 ml of water and let it marinate overnight.
- Take the meat out of the marinade and dry it with a paper towel.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and brown the beef on all sides.
- Transfer browned meat to a plate.
- In the same skillet where you browned the meat, add finely chopped onions, celery, and carrots.
- Sauté for a few minutes (about 5 min), and put back the meat.
- Pour the sweet dessert wine and cook for a few minutes over medium heat.
- Add tomato paste and broth, which should cover the meat.
- When it begins to boil, cover and cook for 3 hours over low heat.
- After 2 hours add the plums and sugar.
- Take out the meat and let it cool, then cut it into 1 cm thick slices.
- Puree the sauce and put it back over low heat.
- Place the slices of meat into the sauce and cook for another 20 minutes.
- Serve with homemade gnocchi.
Dobar tek! Good appetite!
Read also: Top 16 dishes you must try in Croatia
