A truly delicious, old school, Italian favorite! Tender brisket, braised for hours in a savory, fragrant, rich, beautiful sauce! Your house will smell like a Trattoria!
Ingredients:
Serves 4 – 6
• 3-4 lb beef brisket, trimmed of most of the fat
• 2 Tbs of olive oil
• 2 tsp of kosher salt
• 1 tsp of freshly ground black pepper
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 chicken livers, chopped
• 3 cups of dry red wine
• 2 cups of chicken stock
• 1 cup of whole or plum tomatoes, crushed lightly by hand
• 2 sprigs each of rosemary, thyme and oregano, tied in a bundle
• 1 heaping tsp of sugar
• chopped fresh parsley for garnish
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325°
In a large dutch oven, over medium high heat, add the olive oil, season the brisket with salt and pepper and sear on both sides, about 12 minutes total. Remove the brisket from the dutch oven and set aside.
In the same dutch oven, over medium heat, add the onion, carrots and celery. Saute for about 5 minutes until the veggies begin to soften. Add the garlic and the chopped chicken livers.
Stir and cook for another 2 minutes. Add in the chicken stock, wine, tomatoes, the herb bundle and the sugar.
Cover and bake for 3 – 1/2 hours.
Transfer the brisket to a cutting board, cut into slices about 1 inch thick. (cut across the grain) Puree the sauce with an immersion blender right in the dutch oven or pour into a blender, after it cools down a little. Give it a taste and add salt if needed.
Place the sliced brisket on a serving platter, pour over the incredible sauce and sprinkle with parsley.
Serve the remaining sauce at the table. Delicious served with mashed potatoes or polenta.
Note to cooks:
I know chicken liver sounds weird, but the flavor it adds to the sauce is out of this world! The sauce is pureed so no one will know it’s there!
