Italian Guazzetto Oxtail
An Italian oxtail recipe that is wonderfully rich with flavor. While the stew cooks, collagen and the marrow in the bones melt producing a wonderfully silky sauce.
- Preparation:
- Cooking:
- Total:
- Serves: 4 persons
Ingredients
- ¼ounce dried porcini
- 2tablespoons olive oil
- 12ounces oxtails
- Salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ½onion, finely chopped
- ½carrot, finely chopped
- ⅓cup red wine
- ½(15-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1tablespoon tomato paste
- 1teaspoon anchovy paste
- 1bay leaf
- 1whole clove
- 2sprigs fresh rosemary
- 3sprigs fresh thyme
- 1cup homemade beef stock , or chicken stock
Instructions
Step 1
Heat oven to 275 F.Step 2
Bring 1/2 cup of water to a boil, remove from heat, and add dried porcini. Allow to rehydrate for 15 minutes. Remove mushrooms and reserve. Strain the water the mushrooms soaked in through a cheesecloth or a coffee filter and reserve.Step 3
Generously season oxtails with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a small Dutch oven over medium-high heat and brown oxtails on all sides. Set oxtails aside.Step 4
Wrap clove, rosemary, thyme, and bay leaf in a small cheesecloth sack and tie with string.Step 5
Reduce heat to medium-low and sweat onions and carrots for 10 minutes with a generous pinch of salt. Increase heat to medium-high, add wine and deglaze the pot. Add all remaining ingredients including oxtails, mushrooms, and mushroom liquid. Add enough stock to just cover the oxtails.Step 6
Bring to a boil then immediately cover and transfer to a lower rack in the oven. Cook for 3 hours, topping up liquid with water or additional stock as necessary. Remove from oven.Step 7
Remove oxtails and shred meat, reserving. Place pot on stovetop and reduce to about 1 cups over medium-high heat. Add shredded meat and serve over pasta, polenta, or bread.Step 8
We like this dish with sautéed broccoli rabe ; its bitterness is a nice addition to the meal.