I would like to point out that the plate above is Jono’s and not mine – he’s much greedier than me.
If you don’t like Italian food you might want to ignore us for the next while as we’re somewhat smitten.
We tasted a few stews in Italy, peppery and otherwise, and they were fantastic. Jono’s had his eye on this recipe for ages too so we got on to Tom O’Connor in Glasthule, our butcher, who rose to the challenge as always.
You can use beef or veal shin for this recipe (we used veal). Jamie suggests buying the whole bone, slicing the meat off, and adding the bone to the stew. We got it osso bucco style which worked brilliantly.
There is a shocking amount of black pepper and garlic in this recipe. You hardly notice the garlic by the time it’s cooked but the pepper is fierce. Jamie recommends 4 tablespoons of fresh ground black pepper. I think we’ll try two next time which might be safer for a crowd.
This is a really easy dish to cook but it takes 6 hours in the oven (or overnight if you like) so be prepared. This gives intense flavour and makes the meat melt – you can literally lift the bones out and carve the meat with a spoon.
Peposo (the famous hunter’s peppery beef stew) – serves 10
- 2.5 kg beef or veal shin on the bone (see advice above)
- 20 cloves of garlic, peeled
- 4 heaped tbsp freshly ground black pepper (we’ll go for 2 tbsp next time we think)
- 5 sprigs fresh rosemary
- 2 bottles of Chianti (we just used a decent fruity red wine from Gascony cause that’s what we had)
- 2 bay leaves
(Original recipe from Jamie’s Italy).
Wine Suggestion: An Italian red with a good dollop of Sangiovese for tannin and fresh acidity. We drank some Col d’Orcia Brunello di Montalcino which matched the spiciness and had majestic fruit. Perfect
I just found this recipe online and wandered if you think veal tails would work with this recipe as well? if not, what sort of beef would you suggest? i dont have a casserole dish that is stove top and oven proof, would a pot be fine? or should i transfer into the casserole dish once the wine has come to boil on the stove top? thanks for your help.
Veal or oxtail would also work we think and yes you should transfer from the pot to the casserole dish when ready to put it in the oven. J&J
Hey guys, I just saw this JO recipe mention by someone on insty, so put a few key words into google and you guys came up as the #1 search result! Hope all’s well, Tan X
Woah, we’re sorta famous !?!
The JO recipe we liked (which is why we put it up) but we’ve subsequently done some other Peposo’s that we think are better. Look on our blog the other Peposo from Boca di Lupo or the Hunter’s Stew by Domini Kemp. Both have something extra over the JO one.
All well here, and we hope likewise with yourself 🙂 JnJ
I have made this many times with beef stew meat. It is excellent and very easy. I add potatoes, carrots, turnips mushrooms the last two hours of cooking in the oven. Delish.
Sounds great Dana!
Thanks for sharing this. I’m cooking this for my family tonight whilst on holiday in Tuscany. The amount of pepper sounds insane but giving it a go (with your recommended had measure).
Hi Chris. Hope it lived up to expectations! Everything tastes better in Tuscany!! J&J