Italian Guazzetto Oxtail

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

Instructions

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 275 F.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Step 4

    Wrap clove, rosemary, thyme, and bay leaf in a small cheesecloth sack and tie with string.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. Step 8

    We like this dish with sautéed broccoli rabe ; its bitterness is a nice addition to the meal.