“When cooking for a group of people, my ultimate goal is to transport them to Italy in one night,” says Alice Gregori, the Lombardi born-and-raised founder of Caponatina Lab, a catering and private dinner service in Menlo Park, in Northern California. “The area I’m from is a little off the radar for tourists, so I love to infuse some knowledge about my hometown into every event. As ‘mountain people,’ we have a very special way of welcoming outsiders into our homes, and I’m proud to be sharing that same spirit of hospitality with Californians.”
Here, Gregori shares a recipe for Manzo All’Olio, beef chuck prepared in olive oil, which she serves alongside Amor Polenta, the soft, fragrant cake.
MANZO ALL’OLIO
Serves six
Cooking time: 3 hours
Ingredients:
3 lb. beef chuck (In Italy, the meat cut for this recipe is called the priest's hat )
1½ cups Italian extra-virgin olive oil
10 salted anchovies
½ oz. Italian salted Capers
2 garlic cloves
½ bounch Italian parsley
1 oz. grated of Grana Padano or Parmigiano Reggiano
breadcrumbs
2 carrots
1 celery stick
1 onion
Salt and water
Method:
Tie the meat with string so that it maintains its shape during the long cooking process.
In a saucepan, add a drizzle of oil and brown the meat well on each side.
Roughly cut into pieces celery, carrots, and onions (the size doesn’t matter, they can be as large or small as you prefer.)
Take a large, high-sided saucepan and add a drizzle of oil. Brown the vegetables and then add the meat. Let them brown together for a few minutes, then add 2/3 of the oil and just enough hot water to cover about ¾ of the meat.
Continue cooking over low heat with the lid on for about 2½ hours. Occasionally uncover to turn the meat.
Halfway through cooking, add the remaining olive oil.
Once cooked, set the meat aside.
To make the sauce, add capers, grated cheese, and some breadcrumbs to the cooking juice and its vegetables, and then blend everything together.
At the end, add the chopped parsley. Cut the meat into slices about 11 inches. It will be easier to cut if you let the meat cool a few hours. Put some sauce on the bottom of a baking dish, then add the slices of meat and cover with the sauce. Heat a few minutes on the stove and serve.
Please note. Roasted potatoes and polenta are perfect to serve alongside this dish.
The trick for making this is to prepare it the day before, then let the meat rest overnight so that the oil softens its fibers even more. This results in more concentrated and enveloping flavors.