Barolo-Braised Beef Shoulder

Difficulty:

1/5

Ease of preparation rating: Medium

Yield: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:

¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil
5-6 pounds (2.25-2.75 kg) beef shoulder, room temperature
Salt and pepper
6-8 cloves garlic, peeled and flattened
2 large onions, peeled, cut in large pieces
4 carrots, peeled, cut in large pieces
1 small celeriac, peeled, cut in large pieces
2 sprigs rosemary, leaves only
2 sprigs sage, leaves only
3 juniper berries
6 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) peppercorns
2 bottles Barolo wine
8 ½ cups (2 L) beef stock
4 tablespoons (60 ml) butter
Chives, chopped, for garnish

Method:

Preheat oven to 300 F (150 C)

Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Rub roast generously with salt and pepper. Sear all sides of roast to develop a brown crust, 5-6 minutes per side. Remove roast from Dutch oven and place on plate.

Reduce heat to medium and add garlic, onions, carrots, and celeriac. Season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat evenly in oil. Cook for 5-10 minutes or until veggies start to sweat, stirring periodically and scraping meat fragments from the bottom of the dish.

Push veggies aside to create space in the middle of the dish. Add browned roast along with any juices from the plate.

Place rosemary, sage, juniper berries, cloves, cinnamon stick and peppercorns into a square of cheesecloth and tie closed with kitchen twine. Add this bundle to the pot.

Pour wine into Dutch oven. Reduce heat to medium-low and allow wine to evaporate by about 1/3, 10-12 minutes. While the wine is reducing, flip roast once or twice in the liquid.

Pour enough beef stock into the pot to just cover the roast. Place uncovered pot in oven and cook for 2 ½ – 3 hours, flipping the roast periodically.

Remove pot from oven and check beef for fork-tenderness. Remove roast from Dutch oven and place on platter. Remove cheesecloth bundle, skim any fat from the top of the braising liquid and discard both.

Place Dutch oven on burner over medium heat and reduce liquid until thick and coats the back of a spoon, 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat. Pour any juices collected under the roast platter into the Dutch oven. Using an immersion blender, blitz braising liquid and vegetables down to a smooth sauce.

Add butter to reduced braising liquid, season with salt and pepper, and blend until glossy.

Slice roast and serve drizzled in reduced braising liquid, and garnished with chives.

Buon appetito!