Name: Pasticada
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 2 h 30 min
Total time: 3 h
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Croatian
Ingredients: 1.5 kg beef topside; 4 garlic cloves, in slivers; 60 g smoked bacon, in strips; 1 g cloves; 4 tbsp olive oil; 2 onions, chopped; 2 carrots, chopped; 2 celery sticks, chopped; 150 g parsnip, chopped; 2 tbsp tomato purée; 300 ml red wine; 3 tbsp wine vinegar; 2 bay leaves; 100 g stoned prunes; 300 ml water; 1 tsp salt; 600 g potato gnocchi, to serve

Pasticada

Dalmatian beef braised for 2 hours 30 minutes in red wine, prunes and spices until tender, the classic dish for feast days.

3 hr total Serves 6 servings Medium

The Idea Behind Pasticada

Short and sharp: stud the beef with garlic and bacon, and let it cook slowly. Pašticada is the Dalmatian feast day beef, a great piece of meat braised in red wine, prunes and spices, and it is served on Easter Sunday and at weddings along the Adriatic coast. The sauce is dark, sweet and sour at once.

Use a piece of beef topside or silverside of about 1.5 kg. Make deep cuts in it with a knife and push in slivers of garlic, bacon and clove. Brown the meat in oil on all sides, then lift it out. Soften a large amount of chopped onion, carrot, celery and parsnip in the same pot, and add tomato purée, red wine, wine vinegar, bay and a handful of prunes. Return the meat and add water to come halfway up, then cover and cook at a bare simmer for 2 hours 30 minutes.

The beef is ready when a knife slides in easily. Lift it out and slice. Blend half of the vegetables in the pot into a smooth sauce, or pass through a sieve, and boil it down until it coats a spoon. Serve the slices with the sauce and potato gnocchi, which are the classic partner.

How to Make Pasticada

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Make deep cuts in the beef and push in the garlic, bacon and cloves.
Brown the beef in the oil on all sides for 12 minutes. Lift out.
Soften the onions, carrots, celery and parsnip in the pot for 10 minutes. Stir in the purée, then the wine, vinegar, bay and prunes.
Return the beef, add the water and salt, cover and simmer very gently for 2 hours 30 minutes, turning once.
Lift out the beef. Blend the sauce smooth and boil to a coating consistency. Slice the beef and serve with the sauce and gnocchi (optional).

Notes for Getting It Right

Stud the beef so it is flavoured through.
Simmer gently for the full time.
Blend the vegetables into the sauce.

Changing the Recipe

An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.

Serving Suggestions

Potato gnocchi
Red wine
Green salad

Keeping and Reheating

Keeps for 4 days in the fridge. Freeze for 3 months.

Pasticada Nutrition

Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: all the alcohol is counted, though some is lost in cooking; part of the energy comes from foods, or weights per item, with no recorded source. The calories include 5 g of alcohol a serving, which is not part of the protein, carbohydrate or fat. How the figures are worked out.

723Calories

61gProtein

57gCarbs

24gFat

6gFibre

12gSugar

1110mgSodium

Dairy-Free Gluten-Free option No Added Sugar

Gluten-free when served without the potato gnocchi.

Pasticada

How to Make Pasticada

Notes for Getting It Right

Changing the Recipe

Serving Suggestions

Keeping and Reheating

Pasticada Nutrition

Your notes on this recipe

Cooked this? Keep a note for next time

How to Make Pasticada

Notes for Getting It Right

Changing the Recipe

Serving Suggestions

Keeping and Reheating

Pasticada Nutrition

Your notes on this recipe

Cooked this? Keep a note for next time

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