Pasta Alla Genovese

5 from 1 vote

This beloved Neapolitan (not Genovese) pasta recipe is a simple but complex blend of flavour and fragrance. Rich, silky beef is cooked low and slow to meltingly perfect. Pasta Alla Genovese is a magical southern Italian masterpiece.

Prep Time10

Cook Time3 30

Total Time3 30

Course: Appetizer, Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Servings:

Calories: 421kcal

Author: Lee

Ingredients

2.2 lb chuck steak (stewing steak, 1kg, cut into large chunks)
⅓ cup olive oil
2.2 lb onions (about 4-5 onions, 1kg, chopped)
1 carrot (finely diced)
1 celery stalk (finely diced)
2 bay leaves
¾ cup dry white wine
4 stems parsley (chopped)
1½ tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Season the beef with a little salt & pepper.
Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven or saucepan over a medium/high heat and fry the beef on all sides until browned. Remove from the pan.
Reduce the heat to medium/low and then add the onion, carrot, celery and bay leaves and fry for for 8 minutes until the onion is soft and golden.
Add the wine and parsley and return the beef. Season with about 1 tsp of salt and a generous grind of black pepper. Stir well until all the wine has evaporated (about 2 minutes).
Add 2 cups water and then bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and put on a lid. Let it simmer gently for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Check often to ensure the meat isn't catching. If it is, add a little more water.
After 3 hours, remove the lid and simmer for 10 more minutes if the sauce is thin. If it is not then remove from the heat. It should be fairly a fairly dry consistency, but still retain a sauce-like appearance, so don't over-reduce. Using forks, mash and shred the meat a little.
Optional: Scatter in and stir about half a cup of finely grated parmigiano reggiano cheese before serving.
Serve with any tubular pasta. I used a traditional long spaghetti-type shape that I snapped into 'pinky-sized' lengths before cooking. I used a little of the cooking liquid from my pasta to loosen the sauce for serving.
I also like to scatter over more Parmigiano Reggiano when served.

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