RECIPES

PEPOSO

Beef braised for hours with red wine, black peppercorns and bay leaves

The fornacini were clay workers in the area of Impruneta, nestled in hills of Chianti, near Florence. At the end of the long work day, the fornacini would put left over pieces of meat (mostly very fatty), some garlic, peppercorns and wine into a clay pot. The pot would sit overnight inside one of the clay ovens, unlit but still warm. By the morning, they would find a perfectly cooked stew, just in time for breakfast.

Ingredients

3 lb beef cheeks

1/2 bottle red wine

8 whole cloves garlic

1 tbs black peppercorns

1 tbs tomato paste

2 tbs salt

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 300.

In prepping the beef cheek, you will find that it’s a quite fatty piece of meat. You will need to be able to decipher the good fat from the bad fat and cut off anything that is hard or white. The good fat is usually more rubbery and soft and the bad fat is whiter and hard.

Cut the beef cheek into 3” cubes.

You will need to put all the ingredients together at the same time in the same pot. Find a pan big enough to accommodate and add all of your ingredients.

Cover with hot water and close well with aluminum foil.

Bring the pot to boil and put in the oven for at least 4 hours at 300 degrees. The longer it can cook, the better.

If you can let it sit and cool overnight, you’ll find that the flavor becomes much more intense. When reheating, be sure to include the sauce in addition to the meat and riduce it until it’s the right density.

This dish is best served with cannellini beans.