Genoese Tocco

By John, 18 December, 2020
Region
Italy
Description
Tocco on Ravioli

Tocco is Italian for Touch. I don't know why this classic Genoese pasta sauce is called Tocco, but it's delicious in whatever language you use.

You braise a chuck roast with some Mirepoix and beef stock low and slow to extract all the flavor of the beef. Then the beef goes in the fridge for some other use - it's the now extra-flavorful stock that you're after. This is often served with ravioli, but it works with any pasta.

Chuck braising to become Tocco or Toccu

This is a great winter recipe! It simmers on the back burner for hours, warming the kitchen and smelling delicious. And when it's done, you have that "boiled beef'' all tender and ready for some other use, maybe as a ravioli filling.

I have examined many versions of this recipe. Many of them use one shortcut or another, some use additional or fewer herbs; this one seemed the most promising, and it worked out really well. I expect to make it every winter! 

Yield
8 Servings
Preparation time
3 hours, 30 minutes
Ingredients
1 Celery rib
1 small onion
1 T Dried Porcini Mushrooms
8 c Beef Stock
1 Carrot
4 T Olive oil
24 oz Chuck Roast
1⁄2 c Dry White Wine
2 T Tomato Paste
1 T Flour
1 Bay Leaf
1 Sage sprig
1 Rosemary sprig
Instructions
  1. Bring the beef stock to a simmer.
  2. Put the dried mushrooms to soak in a small bowl full of hot water.
  3. Chop the carrots, celery and onion very finely.
  4. In a braising pan or an enameled Dutch oven heat four tablespoons of olive oil and sauté the chopped vegetables over medium heat for a few minutes.
  5. Push the vegetables to the sides of the pot and put the whole piece of meat in the saucepan with the vegetables and brown it on all sides for five minutes, taking care not to burn the vegetables.
  6. Squeeze the mushrooms and chop them finely, reserving the soaking water.
  7. When the meat has browned and the vegetables start to stick to the bottom of the pot, pour the white wine. Stir up everything from the bottom of the pan and let the wine evaporate for 2 minutes.
  8. Add the finely chopped mushrooms.
  9. Stir the tomato paste into the mushroom soaking liquid, and stir that mixture into a tablespoon of flour to make a thin paste, then whisk it into the hot stock.
  10. Pour the hot stock into the braising pan to immerse the chuck roast about two thirds.
  11. Add the sprig of rosemary,sage leaves, and bay leaf.
  12. Cover and cook over very low heat for at least three hours, turning the piece of meat from time to time.
  13. If the sauce is too liquid, after two and a half hours remove the lid and continue cooking at a very low heat until the liquid has reduced to the desired consistency. It should be somewhat thin, see the note below.
  14. Adjust only at the end with salt and pepper.
Notes
The body of this sauce comes from the reduced stock thickened by just a tablespoon of flour, and the vegetables chopped very finely. Enrica (the blogger from whom I got this recipe) says "it shall remain light, a velvety veil that softly covers and embraces your pasta".
Source
https://www.asmallkitcheningenoa.com/genoa-meat-sauce/