Tender and tasty stew with potatoes in a few steps, slow-cooked, prepared with flavorful beef muscle. The dish requires a little over 2 hours, so let’s prepare it well in advance to give it all the time needed for optimal cooking, ensuring the meat is tender and flavorful in the end, which doesn’t even need a knife as it easily crumbles with a fork. Since potatoes require faster cooking, we will add them to the stew later, only when the meat is already quite tender. Let’s get to the recipe; I’m sure you’re eager to read how to prepare it and then get to work in the kitchen. Before we start, remember this is a truly special dish, a classic comfort food to enjoy on the coldest and dampest days, and it requires little effort in preparation, just occasionally check the cooking to ensure there’s enough liquid in the pot. So let’s see how to make it.
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Medium
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 2
- Cooking methods: Slow Cooking
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Fall, Winter
Ingredients for Stew with Potatoes
- 1.3 lbs beef muscle
- 3 medium-large potatoes
- 2 carrots
- 1/2 onion
- 1/4 cup wine
- 1/2 leaf bay leaf
- 1 sprig rosemary
- to taste salt
- 1 cup cup tomato puree
- 3.5 cups water
- 4 slices bread
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- to taste oregano
- 1 chili pepper
Tools to Prepare the Stew with Potatoes
- 1 Pot
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Peeler
- 1 Knife
- 1 Cutting board
Steps to Prepare the Stew with Potatoes
Prepare the meat cut into small pieces, remove any fat. Use a sharp knife and a cutting board.
Peel the carrots and slice them into rounds, place them in a pot with coarsely chopped onion, it doesn’t need to be too fine, add a little oil and start browning lightly, then add the meat, bay leaf, and rosemary and brown well before deglazing with wine, keeping the heat high to let it evaporate completely.
Once the wine has evaporated, add 1 whole chili pepper and the tomato puree, also add water, a little salt and bring to a boil over high heat.
Meanwhile, peel the potatoes, cut them into small chunks, and leave them in water to prevent browning.
Check the pot, when it reaches a boil, reduce to medium heat, kept to a minimum, and cook for at least an hour and a half with the lid on. Occasionally check if there is enough liquid.
After an hour and a half, check the meat’s doneness, if tender, add the potatoes, ensuring there is enough liquid in the pot for their cooking, if not, heat some water and add it to the pot. Continue cooking for another half hour, but always check that both meat and potatoes are well cooked before turning off the heat. If undercooked and there is little liquid, add hot, boiling water.
I accompanied the stew with 2 crostini with oregano. I prepared 4 slices of bread sprayed with a little extra virgin olive oil and seasoned with dried oregano, passed briefly under the grill at 392°F. I served by placing the bread at the base and the stew with potatoes on top. Of course, when you turn off the heat, ensure the stew has the desired consistency, I prefer it fairly dry and add necessary water gradually, but if there is little left, you can raise the heat and finish cooking without the lid.
