Pasticada

Ingredients

• 1.5 kg beef eye of round or topside, in one piece
• 150 g smoked bacon, cut into thick batons
• 6 garlic cloves, cut into slivers
• 1 carrot, cut into thin batons for larding
• 6 whole cloves
• 300 ml red wine vinegar
• 300 ml water
• 3 onions, finely sliced
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 parsley root or small parsnip, chopped
• 2 celery sticks, chopped
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 400 ml dry red wine
• 150 ml prosek or sweet dessert wine
• 12 pitted prunes
• 4 dried figs, quartered
• 600 ml beef stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
• 1 tsp caster sugar
• Salt and black pepper
• Potato gnocchi, to serve

Before you cook

• Cut the bacon into batons and the garlic into slivers
• Cut one carrot into thin batons for larding
• Pierce the beef deeply all over with a thin knife and push a piece of bacon, garlic and carrot into each hole
• Stud the surface of the beef with the whole cloves
• Sit the larded beef in a deep bowl, pour over the vinegar and water, cover, and refrigerate overnight, turning once
• Soak the prunes and figs in the prosek for 1 hour before cooking

Steps

1. Lift the beef out of the marinade and dry it thoroughly with kitchen paper.
2. Pull out and discard the whole cloves from the surface.
3. Season the beef all over with salt and pepper.
4. Heat the olive oil in a heavy casserole over high heat until it shimmers.
5. Brown the beef for 12 minutes, turning it every few minutes, until every surface is deeply coloured.
6. Lift the beef onto a plate.
7. Lower the heat to medium and add the sliced onions to the pot.
8. Cook the onions for 20 minutes, stirring often, until they collapse into a soft brown mass.
9. Add the chopped carrot, parsley root and celery and cook for 10 minutes more.
10. Stir in the tomato puree and cook for 2 minutes until it darkens.
11. Pour in the red wine and scrape the base of the pot clean.
12. Boil the wine for 5 minutes to drive off the raw alcohol.
13. Return the beef to the pot with the bay leaves, nutmeg, sugar and the beef stock.
14. Bring to a bare simmer, cover, and cook over the lowest heat for 3 hours, turning the meat every hour.
15. Add the prunes and figs with their soaking prosek.
16. Continue cooking, covered, for a further 45 minutes until a skewer slides into the beef with no resistance.
17. Lift the beef out onto a board and cover it loosely with foil.
18. Fish out the bay leaves, then blitz the sauce smooth with a stick blender, leaving a few prunes whole if you like.
19. Simmer the sauce uncovered for 15 minutes until it is glossy and coats a spoon.
20. Taste and balance it with salt, pepper and a splash more prosek or vinegar until it is clearly both sweet and sour.
21. Carve the beef across the grain into thick slices.
22. Return the slices to the sauce and warm them through for 10 minutes.
23. Serve over hot potato gnocchi with plenty of sauce.