Beef in Barolo
- 3 1/2 lb beef eye round roast (trimmed)
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
- 1/2 cup olive oil
- 1 medium onion (finely chopped)
- 8 slice pancetta (not paper thin, chopped)
- 5 tbsp Italian tomato paste
- 4 whole cloves
- 6 bay leaves
- 2 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves (chopped)
- 1 750-ml bottle Barolo (or other dry red wine)
- 6 cup unsalted beef stock or canned unsalted broth
- 2 14.5-ounce can fire-roasted diced tomatoes (Muir-Glen brand, if possible)
Season the beef with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Add beef and brown on all sides, about 12 minutes. Transfer beef to platter; reduce heat to medium.
You want to get a nice dark brown crust on all sides of the beef. Lower the heat if the color of the crust seems too dark.Add onion and pancetta to pot. Sauté until onion is golden, about 8 minutes. Mix in tomato paste, bay leaves, cloves and rosemary. Add wine. Return meat and any juices to pot. Cover and simmer 30 minutes, turning meat once.
Mix stock and tomatoes into sauce. Cover and simmer gently until meat is tender, turning occasionally, about 3 hours.
Transfer beef to platter. Cover with foil to keep warm. Strain sauce through fine sieve, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard solids. Degrease sauce. Return sauce to pot and boil until reduced to 2 cups, about 1 hour. Add any beef juices from platter to sauce. Cut beef across grain into ⅓-inch thick slices. Return sliced meat to sauce. Rewarm gently. Arrange meat on platter, spoon sauce over and serve.When cutting the beef into slices, be gentle, and use a very sharp knife. The tender meat tends to shred if handled roughly.