Stew with polenta

Stew with polenta is a warm and comforting dish, perfect for colder days. Polenta, traditionally, is a Northern Italian dish, but stew can be found in various versions throughout the peninsula.

Ingredients for the stew:

• 500 g of beef for stewing (preferably shoulder or shin)
• 1 medium onion
• 2 carrots
• 2 sticks of celery
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 500 ml of beef broth
• 250 ml of red wine
• Tomato paste (one tablespoon)
• Flour (as needed for dredging the meat)
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Rosemary, bay leaves, thyme (optional for flavoring)

Ingredients for polenta:

• 250 g of cornmeal for polenta
• 1 L of water
• Salt to taste

Preparation of the stew:

1. Clean and chop the onion, carrots and celery into small pieces. Finely chop the garlic.
2. Lightly flour the meat pieces.
3. Heat the oil in a large pot and brown the meat on all sides until well caramelized. Remove the meat and set it aside.
4. In the same pot, add the onion, celery, carrots and garlic, and sauté until they become translucent.
5. Add the meat back into the pot, stir and pour in the red wine. Let the alcohol evaporate for a few minutes on high heat.
6. Add the tomato paste, stir, then add the beef broth until all the ingredients are covered.
7. Season with salt and pepper and add the herbs if you wish.
8. Cook on low heat with the lid on for about 2 hours or until the meat becomes tender. If necessary, add more broth during cooking.

Preparation of the polenta:

1. Bring salted water to a boil in a large pot.
2. Gradually sprinkle in the cornmeal, continuously stirring with a whisk or wooden spoon to prevent lumps.
3. Lower the heat and continue to stir the polenta for about 40 minutes, until it easily pulls away from the sides of the pot.

To serve, lay the polenta on the plate and pour the stew with its gravy on top.

Curiosity

The stew is a dish that lends itself very well to slow cooking and resting, and is often even considered better the following day. This is because the flavors have time to meld together better. In some recipe variants, you can also add a diced potato during the cooking to further thicken the sauce.