Italian Style Slow Braised Beef Brisket
Medium
Prep 15min Cook 5hrs
Move over bolognaise, this deliciously rich Italian Style Slow Braised Brisket is coming to town. Serve it sliced or as ragu or shredded piled on crusty bread..
I am a huge fan of anything that involves one pot cooking and I am especially happy when I can cook one recipe and then use it for so many other dishes. Any way you eat it you will love its full flavoured sauce. The brisket once cooked and in its sauce is ideal for freezing.
Gremolata is traditionally a type of fresh olive oil based dressing made from parsley and lemon and is often served with slow braised osso bucco. Here I have teamed it with a whole egg mayonnaise to make a zesty accompaniment. Again you can use this for just about anything.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
- 3kg Beef Brisket
- 2 onions, finely diced
- 2 stalks celery with diced
- 1 carrot, peeled and diced
- 2 cloves peeled garlic crushed
- 4 anchovies
- 2 bay leaves, 2 branches of rosemary, 3 stems of fresh thyme (tied together)
- 6 fresh basil leaves
- 500ml bottle red wine
- 1 x 400g tin crushed tomatoes
- 3 tbsps. tomato paste
- 2 lt Beef stock – enough to cover the brisket
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- Salt and pepper to taste
Gremolata Mayonnaise Ingredients
- 1 cup real egg no sugar mayonnaise
- 1 cloves garlic, minced or run through a press
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Zest of 1 lemons
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- ¼ cup finely chopped parsley
Option 1 Recipe Steps
Preheat the oven to 120°C.
Heat the oil in a large, deep heatproof casserole and brown the brisket all over. Remove and set it aside.
Into the same dish add the onions, celery, carrots, garlic, anchovies, herbs and basil and fry briskly until everything is well browned.
Add the wine and let it bubble for 20 seconds then add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, stock and vinegar.
Mix to dissolve the tomato paste then place the brisket on top, cover with a lid or foil and place in the oven for 6-7 hours until the meat is tender. This may take a little longer given the size.
Option 2 Recipe Steps
Heat a large stock pot (large enough to fit the whole brisket or you may need to cut it in half).
Add in the olive oil and brown the brisket all over, remove it and set it aside.
Add in the onions, celery, carrots, garlic, anchovies, herbs and basil and fry briskly until everything is well browned.
Add the wine and let it bubble for 20 seconds then add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, stock and vinegar.
Place the brisket back into the pot and then cover with a lid and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for about 6 hours until the meat is very tender and can easily be pulled apart.
Brisket as a sauce Recipe Steps
If you want to use the brisket as a sauce for pasta or in a roll, or as a lasagne sauce, remove it from the sauce and break up the brisket by using a fork to tear apart the strands of meat until shredded.
Reduce the sauce by about 1/2 until the sauce is quite thick. Then mix the brisket back into the sauce making sure that the meat is covered with sauce.
You can cook this ahead of time and then easily reheat the brisket in the sauce. This method is ideal serving the brisket with pasta, risotto, in rolls on pizza, lasagne or even over rice.
Gremolata Mayonnaise Recipe Steps
In a bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, garlic, lemon zest and juice and a salt and pepper to taste.
Makes 1 cup
This is perfect to serve with the brisket especially serving it in a crusty roll or serve the meat as is after cutting it into portion sizes serving it with mash potato, rice or vegetables.