This recipe was from my old website as part of a newsletter for Andrea’s Xmas Dinner. My husband loves tradition and this is one that also saves me time and takes very little actual cooking time to prepare and feeds us for several meals.
This is true comfort food.
For Christmas we serve tortellini cooked in the broth. Then the boiled meats with sauces and the boiled carrots from the broth.
If we are eating with the “family” the menu might be:
Chicken liver crostini
Tortellini in brodo
My sister-in- law makes a Stracotto, pot roast, then served tagliatelle served in the sauce that the roast was cooked in.
The pot roast served as a main course
The Bollito Misto, boiled beef tray ( various cuts) with all the sauces ( can be 7 sauces) and pickled vegetables
spinach also cooked in the sauce from the pot roast
Roast or fried potatoes
Dessert:
panettone
Pandoro
nuts and dried fruits
ricciarelli
panforte
I freeze any leftover broth in small serving sizes so I can easily reheat!
Ingredients
- 2-1/2 pounds beef (muscle, tongue, etc. for boiling)
- 2 beef bones
- 1 onion, peeled and left whole
- 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 3-inch lengths
- 1 celery stalk
- 1 tomato
- Parsley
- Sea salt to taste, about 2 tablespoons
- One-half capon or boiling chicken, optional
Instructions
- Place all the ingredients in a large soup pot, and cover with water. Bring to a slow boil, covered for 1 hour. Skim the surface. Add the chicken and cook for another hour. Control the beef to see if it is cooked. It should be very tender; the skin will easily come off the tongue.(I like to make this the night before so I can remove any excess fat from the broth.)
- Remove the beef and vegetables from the broth. Throw away the tomato, parsley, and beef bones. Strain the broth and replace the beef in the broth. Refrigerate overnight. Remove the solidified fat from the broth the next day. Reheat all together.
- To serve, remove enough broth for the soup. Heat the tortellini in broth and serve with grated Parmesan cheese. Serve the beef already cut and arranged on a serving plate.
Salsa Verde
1 cup Italian parsley, leaves only
2 tablespoons capers
1 garlic clove
1 anchovy filet
Red wine vinegar, to taste
1/2 cup olive oil
1 slice white bread
Finely chop the parsley, capers, garlic, and anchovy, using a sharp knife.
Put the mixture into a serving bowl and add olive oil and red wine vinegar.
Adjust seasonings.
Remove the crust from the slice of bread, and soak the bread in red wine vinegar.
Then crumble the bread into sauce. (This is the poor man’s technique; the bread looks like pine nuts in the sauce! Instead you can add some chopped pine nuts!)
I love salsa verde on hot green beans and boiled potatoes. I also make an appetizer by removing the yolks from hardboiled eggs and blending them with the sauce. Refill the eggs and refrigerate before serving.
If there is any boiled beef left over, I am always sure to make extra! I make my favorite:
Lesso Rifatto
1 pound leftover boiled meat, chopped into small cubes
1-1/2 pounds red onions, finely sliced
2 cups stewed tomatoes, or red wine ( or lighter is to simply use tomato paste which makes more of a glaze)
Olive oil
Salt
Sauté the onions in olive oil; when soft, add the leftover beef and cook covered for an additional 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt.
Bring to a boil and let cook for 10 minutes.
Add tomatoes or tomato paste and red wine or broth.
To make this even richer, add some cubed raw potatoes to the pan with the onions.