This is one of the finest recipes that represent Dalmatian cuisine. It can be very much simplified, but it’s suitable even for some special occasions and particular companies.
Pasticada is not a difficult meal to prepare, but it will take you some time for sure and you won’t be sorry.

So, the day before you want to have it on your table you will have to prepare your meat block of about 750 g of beef thigh. Namely, you have to make holes about 2 cm deep into meat and as possible equally. The easiest way is to do it with a pointed knife. Than you put slices of garlic (5 cloves) and bacon (100 g) into those cloves. This way prepared meat soak into vinegar and put it in a fridge over the night.

The next day take the meat out of vinegar and roast it slowly in the pan in which you have poured about half finger of oil. It has to be roasted on all sides. If it starts drying add a bit of bouillon or a hot water to continue roasting. Before you take the meat out of the pan, it has to become brown on all sides. Than you can take it out and continue cooking in the same pan. Put sliced onion (450 g) and roast it a bit. After about five minutes add the prune (just one), a little bit of grated nutmeg, salt and pepper and than pour over prosecco (1/2 glass) mixed with tomato concentrate (one tablespoon). This sauce has to boil. When it does, put the meat back inside, ad as much bouillon or hot water to cover up the meat.
The best is to choose a pot as closest to the size of your meat, because you don’t want to add too much water or bouillon in order to obtain density of a sauce.

Just a light flame is enough for meat to cook for around 3 hours, until it is almost entirely cooked. Than you take it all out, cut meat into 1 cm wide slices and return it to a strained sauce. In this final faze cook it all together for about ½ more hour until the meat grows to be very soft.

I recommend you to serve PASTICADA with gnocchi (dumplings) or wide pasta and inevitable Parmesan cheese.

Advice: If you don’t have the prosecco vine, you can use ordinary black vine in which you have dissolved 2 teaspoons of sugar.

Croatian islands cooking, dalmatian, gnocchi, grated nutmeg, light flame, parmesan cheese, pointed knife, prosecco, special occasions, vinegar