Croatian Recipes: Dalmatinska Pašticada

If you are fortunate to find yourself on Croatia’s Dalmatian coast this summer no doubt you will have a chance to sample the local cuisine…

The Dalmatian region of Croatia is home to some fantastic cuisine. One of the true standouts has to be pašticada. Pašticada, or Dalmatinska Pašticada, is a stewed beef dish cooked in a special sauce and served with homemade gnocchi.

What makes pašticada is the distinct flavour of the sauce which includes such ingredients as prunes, panceta and the sweet dessert wine prošek. Again like most dishes there are a number of different recipes. Give this one a try from Fini Recepti to impress visitors wanting a taste of Dalmatia.

Ingredients

Beef (silverside) – 2.5 kg
Carrots – 900 g
Celery – 300 g
Parsley root – 200 g
Apple cider vinegar – 200 ml
Red wine – 400 ml
Panceta – 100 g
Garlic – 6 cloves
Onion – 2
Bay leaf – 2
Rosemary – 1 sprig
Tomato paste – 1 tablespoon
Prunes – 15
Vegetable stock – 1 litre
Honey – 2 tablespoons
Plum jam – 2 tablespoons
Cloves – 1 teaspoon
Olive oil, pepper, salt, prošek

Instructions

1. Slice the garlic lengthways, chop the onions, panceta, carrots, celery and parsley.

2. Run a sharp knife along the beef opening it up. Insert the garlic and panceta into the slits. Place in a dish and pour some vinegar and red wine over it, salt and pepper, bay leaf, rosemary and cover and let marinate overnight in the fridge.

3. Preheat oven at 160C.

4. Put a bit of olive oil in casserole pan over a high heat and brown the beef all over.

5. Once brown add more olive oil, a splash of prošek, onions, the rest of the marinade including the celery and bay leaf. Let it cook in the oven for about 15 minutes then add the vegetable stock, tomato paste, cloves, prunes and then cover and cook on low heat.

6. After about 3 hours of cooking take out the bay leaf, rosemary and meat. With a mixer ground down the vegetables into a sauce, adding the honey and the jam. Mix well to you get a sauce.

7. Carve the meat into 1 cm thick slices.

8. Place the meat on a plate with the sauce next to it and serve with homemade gnocchi.

Dobar tek!