CookEat Recipe
Slow-Braised Veal with Strained Tomato Jus
A whole piece of veal slowly braised with cured pork belly, butter, vegetables and tomato, giving both tender meat and strained sauce for pasta or rice.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Gather the ingredients: 500 g lean veal in one piece, including a small bone or meat trimmings in that weight; 50 g cured pork belly with fat and lean, cut into small dice; 30 g butter; One-quarter of a large onion, roughly chopped; 1 small carrot, roughly chopped; 2 short pieces celery, roughly chopped; 1 small pinch plain flour, about 2 g; About 150 ml plain tomato sauce, or 1 tablespoon tomato paste diluted in about 150 ml water; Water, added a little at a time as needed; Salt and black pepper to taste.
Step 2
Choose a lean veal piece suitable for slow braising, with a small bone or trimmings included in the stated 500 g. Put the meat, diced cured pork belly, butter, roughly chopped onion, carrot and celery into a heavy pan together. Season with salt and pepper. Cook over moderate heat, turning the meat often, until browned on its surfaces, about 15–20 minutes.
Step 3
Sprinkle the browned meat with the small pinch of flour. Stir and turn briefly so the flour cooks without burning. Add the tomato sauce or diluted tomato paste, then add a little water. Scrape up the browned juices; the sauce should not turn black or taste scorched.
Step 4
Cover partly and braise very gently for about 1½–2 hours until the veal is tender and fully cooked to at least 74°C, turning occasionally and adding water in small amounts to keep it moist. Do not dry out the meat merely to extract more sauce. The tenderness of the cut, rather than a fixed clock time alone, determines when the braise is ready.
Step 5
Lift out the veal and keep hot. Remove any bone before serving. Strain the cooking juices through a sieve, pressing the softened vegetables lightly to recover the sauce. Return the strained jus to the pan and adjust its consistency with a little water if needed. Slice the meat and serve hot with some of the jus, reserving the rest for pasta or rice if desired.
Step 6
For the dried-mushroom option, soak about 10 g dried edible mushrooms in hot water for about 20 minutes, rinse off grit, chop and simmer them in the strained sauce for at least 15 minutes or as the package directs, until fully tender. This is an optional addition after straining, not raw dried mushrooms scattered on the meat.
Step 7
For the source macaroni service, boil 250–300 g macaroni in salted water until tender, drain well and keep briefly over gentle heat with enough strained jus to coat. Finish with about 10 g butter and 15 g Parmesan, modest estimated amounts; extra Parmesan can be offered separately. For rice instead, start about 200 g rice in water, adding water a little at a time as it absorbs. Halfway through cooking add some strained jus and about 10 g butter. Finish until tender, then stir in about 15 g Parmesan. Pasta and rice are alternative uses of the jus, not both required alongside the meat.
Step 8
The meat may be served with separately cooked greens or legumes. For the source oil-based variation, reduce the cured pork belly from 50 g to about 20 g and use about 2 tablespoons olive oil as a practical starting amount with the same 30 g butter; follow the same browning and braising steps. The source specifies the reduced pork amount but leaves the oil unmeasured.
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