Adapted from a combination “Peposo alla Fornacina”, “Peposo – Tuscan Red Wine Beef Stew”, “Peposo”, and “Peposo (Peppery Tuscan Beef Stew)”.
I was inspired to search out these recipes by the description of peposo in Bill Buford’s “Heat: An Amateur‘s Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany”.
Equipment
- chef‘s knife
- cutting board
- mortar and pestle (or other way to crush peppercorns)
- 5.5 qt Dutch oven
- wooden spoon or spatula
Ingredients
Staples
- EVOO
- black peppercorns
- garlic
- salt
To Buy
- 2-3 pounds of beef shank
- (at least) 2 bottles of a decent Chianti
Prep
- peel the cloves from a head of garlic, trimming any bad spots and the top and bottom of the cloves
- cut the calf shank into approximately 1” cubes — follow the connective tissues in the meat as much as possible
- weigh out 15-20 grams of peppercorns and crush them throughly
Cook
- start oven heating to 325°F
- season the meat well with kosher salt
- using the Dutch oven and EVOO over medium heat, brown the meat well on all sides — may need to be done in multiple batches
- add the crushed pepper to the remaining oil in the pot and sauté for approximately 30 seconds
- turn heat to high
- add one bottle of wine to pot
- deglaze any pot fond with the wine and a wooden spoon or spatula
- reduce heat to low
- return meat and any juices to pot
- add garlic to pot, nestling into the meat
- if meat is not fully covered, add additional wine to cover
- cover pot and move to oven to braise for 3-4 hours
- meat is done when tender — wine should reduce into a thin sauce
- if a thicker sauce is desired, it can be reduced further on the stove top — be careful not to dry out the meat
Notes
- This paired well with sautéed spinach and baguette for speading garlic.