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
If your meat is in one piece, slice the meat off the bone in big chunky slabs (keep the bone). If it is osso bucco style leave it as it is.
Heat the oven to 150C/300F/Gas 2.
Put a layer of sliced meat in the bottom of your biggest casserole, cover with some garlic cloves and sprinkle with a tbsp of pepper and a little salt.
Add 2 sprigs of rosemary and repeat with another layer of meat. Keep going like this until your ingredients are used up and you have a full pot.
Pour the wine over the top, add any left over bones and the bay leaves. Top up with water if necessary to cover the meat.
Bring to the boil and cover tightly with double thick foil and the lid.
Cook in the oven for 6 hours (or overnight at 140C/275F/Gas1).
When it’s done, skim off any fat, remove the bones, bay leaves and rosemary twigs.
Serve on toast (hunter style) or with some new potatoes and carrots (Jono and Jules’ style).
It’s good!
(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
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Jono & Jules do food & wine 