Veal Breast Stracotto Recipes

STUFFED BREAST OF VEAL

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
• Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Stir in the mushrooms, and cook for 1 or 2 minutes until they begin to soften. Add the carrot, celery, and onion; cook and stir until the carrot begins to soften, 5 to 10 minutes. Turn the heat off, and stir in the garlic and parsley; set aside.
• Beat the eggs and water with salt and pepper in a large bowl. Fold in the bread cubes until they absorb the egg mixture, then fold in the cooked vegetables; set aside. Cut a deep pocket into the veal breast with a long, narrow knife. Stuff the veal with the bread and vegetable mixture, and season with paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Place onto a roasting pan, and cover loosely with aluminum foil.
• Bake in preheated oven for 3 1/2 hours, then remove the foil, baste with pan drippings, and continue cooking 30 minutes more. When done, tent with aluminum foil, and allow the veal breast to rest for 15 minutes before slicing.

STUFFED AND ROASTED BONE-IN VEAL BREAST

Steps:

• Cut a pocket in veal breast, or ask your butcher to do it for you. Season pocket with salt and pepper. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Set aside veal to reach room temperature.
• In a skillet melt butter over medium-high heat. Add onion and celery and saute until onion is tender and golden. In a bowl combine bread and eggs; add onion mixture, parsley and 1 cup of the chicken stock. Season with salt and pepper; mix well. Stuffing should be fairly wet; add a little more chicken stock if needed.
• Using a long spoon, reach deep inside veal pocket to distribute stuffing evenly. Use a trussing needle and string to sew up pocket. Season roast on all sides with salt and pepper and liberally sprinkle top with paprika. Place in roasting pan, top side up, and roast 3 1/2 hours in all. Baste top with 1/2 cup chicken stock every 45 minutes.
• Remove roast to a carving board and let sit, loosely covered, 15 minutes while you prepare sauce. Set roasting pan over medium-high heat and add remaining 3 cups chicken stock. Deglaze pan, scraping up browned bits and incorporating them into stock. Boil until stock reduces to 1 1/2 cups. If desired, thicken sauce with arrowroot or butter, or leave as is. Cut center portion of veal breast along chine bone separations into 6 servings. Spoon gravy over each portion.

STUFFED BRAISED VEAL BREAST

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Coat a large straight-sided saute pan with olive oil. Smash 2 of the whole garlic cloves with the heel of your hand and toss them into the pan with a pinch of crushed red pepper. Bring the pan to a medium-high heat. When the garlic is golden brown and very aromatic, remove it from the pan and discard it, it has fulfilled its garlic destiny.
• Add the spinach to the pan, stir to coat the oil and season with salt. Cover the pan and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Remove the lid from the pan and stir the spinach, it should be wilted. Taste and adjust the seasoning if needed. Transfer the spinach to a mesh strainer to let any excess water drain out.
• Return the pan to the burner and coat the pan with olive oil and add in 2 more garlic cloves that have been smashed with the heel of your hand. Repeat the process of cooking the garlic to golden brown and discarding. Toss in a pinch of crushed red pepper and the sliced mushrooms. Season the mushrooms with salt and cook until they are soft and wilted, add a little more oil if they are a little dry. Taste the mushrooms and adjust the seasoning if needed. Remove from the heat and let cool.
• Squeeze out any excess liquid from the wilted spinach and coarsely chop. Add to the mushrooms, toss in the Parmigiano and stir to combine. Taste to make sure it is delicious. Reserve.
• Lay the meat out and gently pound to flatten. Sprinkle generously with salt. Lay the prosciutto slices down the middle of the veal. Lay a log of the spinach and mushroom mixture down the middle of the prosciutto. Roll the veal around the prosciutto and tie the veal with butcher's twine.
• Coat a Dutch oven with olive oil and bring to a medium-high heat. Add the veal roll and brown on all sides. Remove the veal from the pan and reserve.
• Ditch any excess fat and add a few drops of new oil. Add the onions to the pan, stir to coat with the oil and season with salt. Lower the heat to medium and cook the onions, covered, for 7 to 8 minutes.
• Uncover the onions, they should be very soft and wilted. Add the chopped garlic and rosemary and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the wine and reduce by half.
• Return the veal to the pan and add chicken stock until it comes about halfway up the sides of the veal. Toss in the bay leaves and thyme bundle. Cover and place in the oven and cook for 1 hour.
• Remove the veal from the oven, turn over and add more stock if the liquid has reduced. Taste the braising liquid if the liquid level has reduced significantly. Cook for 1 hour.
• Remove the lid from the Dutch oven and braise for another 45 minutes to allow the liquid to reduce.
• Remove the veal from the oven, remove from the pan, cover with foil and let rest for 15 minutes. Place the Dutch oven on a burner over medium heat to reduce the braising liquid if it is too soupy. Taste the liquid to make sure the seasoning is correct.
• Slice the veal into medallions and serve with the braising liquid and onions.
• Wine Pairing Suggestion: Gavi

WHOLE ROASTED BREAST OF VEAL

Steps:

• Vaguely trim breast - just the fat globs on the rib cage and any especially skanky skin, if it even exists. If the blue U.S.D.A. ink stamp on the flesh offends you, remove it.
• Place breast in a deep roasting pan large enough to accommodate it, and season meat thoroughly and assertively with salt, all over, turning the breast ribs-side up as well, seasoning with salt all over. Do the same thing, less assertively by half, with ground black pepper. Set breast back in pan ribs-side down, and season the flesh side extremely conservatively with both ground juniper and ground allspice. A light hand here, please. Strip a few pinches of fresh thyme leaves from their stems, and scatter over the veal. Drizzle generously with the oil, allowing some to pool in roasting pan.
• Let the veal sit at room temperature to shake the chill from the refrigerator while you prepare the potatoes.
• Peel and cut into wedges 4 Yukon Gold potatoes, and scatter around in pan. Peel and halve the onion, and slice into 1/3-inch-thick half-moons. Scatter onion around in pan on top of potatoes. Keep potato and onion under the meat, not on top of it, so that breast can fully brown and get a crisp skin.
• Fill roasting pan 2 inches deep with water and white wine, in equal parts. Set in 275-degree oven, and let roast for up to 12 hours, depending on weight. Remove when it is deeply golden brown and soft and tender. You don't want it falling off the bone, but you should be able to see how loose and relaxed it has become in the layers. You may need to tent the pan with foil for the first or the last 45 minutes of roasting to give it a little braise time for the deepest interior, recalcitrant parts. Conversely, you may want to turn up the oven and give it a 30-minute finish in a hot oven to get better color.
• Pick out vertebrae. Slice off ribs. Then portion as you wish, using a sharp knife big enough for the job. Include the potatoes and onions and the liquid from the pan when you serve.

ITALIAN POT ROAST (STRACOTTO)

Steps:

• Cut the garlic into thin slivers. Pierce the meat in many places with the point of a knife and insert the garlic slivers into the holes.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a heavy 3- to 4-quart heatproof casserole. Add the meat and brown it well over medium heat. Remove it from the casserole. Add the remaining oil and the onions, carrots and celery. Saute them until moderately brown.
• Stir in the wine and cook for a few minutes, scraping the casserole. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste and basil. Season the mixture with salt and pepper and return the meat to the casserole.
• Cover tightly and cook over very low heat for at least three hours, until the meat is very tender. Turn the meat a few times during cooking.
• Remove the meat from the casserole. To serve immediately, skim the fat from the surface of the sauce, then puree the sauce in a food processor and reheat. Otherwise, refrigerate the meat and sauce overnight. Remove any congealed fat from the sauce and puree the sauce in a food processor. Reheat the meat in the sauce before serving.

VEAL BREAST STRACOTTO

Steps:

• To season the veal, place the breast in a nonreactive baking dish and season it all over with the salt and pepper, using approximately 1 teaspoon of salt per pound of meat. If your butcher did not roll and tie the veal breast, roll it tightly lengthwise into a long log shape and tie it with kitchen twine in five or six places along the roll. Cover the dish tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour and up to overnight.
• Meanwhile, if you are making the stock, adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 325°F.
• Place the veal bones on a baking sheet and roast them, shaking the pan occasionally for even cooking, until they're evenly browned, about 1 1/2 hours. Remove the baking sheet from the oven and transfer the bones to a large stockpot. Add the chicken stock and bring it to a boil over high heat, skimming off the foam that rises to the top. Add the leek, onion, and carrot, reduce the heat, and simmer the stock for 1 hour, skimming as needed. Remove the stock from the heat, pour it through a fine-mesh strainer, and discard the contents of the strainer. Use the stock, or set aside to cool to room temperature, transfer it to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to three days.
• To braise the veal, adjust the oven rack to the middle position and preheat the oven to 350°F.
• Cut the veal in half, if necessary, for it to fit in the pan. Heat 1/4 cup of the oil over medium-high heat in a large Dutch oven or large, high-sided sauté pan until the oil is almost smoking and slides easily in the pan, 2 to 3 minutes. Place the veal in the pan to sear to deep brown on all sides, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the veal to a plate.
• Add 2 tablespoons of the remaining olive oil to the pan. Reduce the heat to medium low, add the prosciutto, and cook, stirring constantly, to render the fat but not to brown the prosciutto, 2 to 3 minutes. Increase the heat to medium, add the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil, and warm the oil for a minute or two before adding the celery, carrot, and onion. Season the vegetables with the pepper, and sauté until the vegetables are softened and slightly caramelized, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute, stirring constantly to prevent it from browning. Move the vegetables to create a bare spot in the pan, add the tomato paste to that spot, and cook for 1 minute more, stirring, to caramelize the tomato paste slightly. Add the wine, increase the heat to high, and boil until it reduces by about half, about 5 minutes. Return the veal and any juices that have collected on the plate it was resting on to the pan. Pour in enough stock to come half to three-fourths of the way up the veal breast, about 4 cups. Increase the heat to medium high and bring the stock to a simmer. Turn off the heat. If you have industrial-strength plastic wrap, which won't melt in the oven, cover the Dutch oven or pan tightly with plastic wrap. In either case, cover tightly with aluminum foil and place the lid on if it has one. Place the veal in the oven for 2 hours. Remove the pot from the oven and uncover it. Add the turnips, nestling them in the sauce, return the lid to the pot, and place it back in the oven for about 1 hour, until the meat is fork-tender and the vegetables are tender. Remove the veal from the oven and remove and discard the foil and plastic wrap (if you used it) from the pan, being careful not to burn yourself with the steam that will rise from the pan. Allow the meat to cool in the braising liquid for at least 30 minutes. You can prepare the veal to this point up to five days in advance. Cool the meat and turnips to room temperature in the braising liquid. Remove the vegetables and transfer them to an airtight container. Cover the pot with plastic or transfer the veal with the liquid to an airtight container and refrigerate until you are ready to serve it. (You will proceed slightly differently.)
• If you have prepared the veal in advance and are rewarming it, preheat the oven to 350°F. Remove the veal and turnips from the refrigerator. Remove and discard the fat from the liquid and pour it into a large Dutch oven or stovetop-safe baking dish and cook as directed below to thicken. Remove the string and slice the veal as directed below and lay the slices in the sauce, resting them on top of one another, domino fashion. Nestle the turnips around the veal and place the dish in the oven for about 30 minutes, basting the vegetables and the veal with the sauce occasionally, until the meat is warmed through.
• If you are serving the dish the same day, remove the veal and turnips to a plate, skim the fat from the braising liquid, and bring the liquid to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer the liquid until it is the consistency of a thick glaze or thin gravy, stirring occasionally to prevent it from sticking to the pan; it will be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
• To make the garnish, combine the parsley leaves, celery leaves, and lemon zest in a medium bowl. Drizzle the leaves with the finishing-quality olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt, and toss gently to combine.
• To serve, cut off and discard the string from the veal and cut it into eight slices of even thickness. Lay two slices of veal on each of four plates, resting one at an angle on top of the other. Nestle the turnips around the veal, dividing them evenly, and ladle the sauce over the meat. Pile the garnish on each serving, dividing it evenly, and serve.
• Barbera d'Alba (Piedmont)