Tocco Genoese, called 'u tuccu in Ligurian dialect, is a typical Ligurian meat sauce that takes its name from the fact that it’s prepared with a single piece of meat that when cooked flavors the tomato and that once used to prepare the sauce, can be enjoyed as a second course. This traditional Genoese meat sauce needs a fairly long preparation but the recipe to prepare it, as we’ll see, is really quite simple. Usually a fairly lean cut of meat, beef or veal is used. What’s the best way to enjoy this tasty meat sauce? Tradition denotes ravioli, filled with meat or borage, depending on taste.
Meat Sauce Genoa-style : how to prepare it at home
Ingredients
To prepare the tocco meat sauce you’ll need: 250 g of beef leg or rump steak (scamone), 300 g of tomato sauce, 20 g of dried mushrooms, 1 onion, 1 carrot, 1 clove of garlic, 1 stalk of celery, rosemary, bay leaves, salt, extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 glass of red wine.
Method
The first thing to do for the Tocco Genoese meat sauce recipe is to sauté the onion, carrot, chopped celery, oil and garlic on which the whole piece of meat needs to be browned, then add the red wine to soften. When all the liquids have evaporated it’s time to add the tomato sauce and, after soaking them in a little warm water, the mushrooms. Then add salt and continue cooking over a low heat adding water or broth if needed, bay leaves and a little pepper. The cooking time should last for a long time, at least three hours, until the meat is very tender.