Braised oxtail

Ingredients for 3 servings:

• 1 kg oxtail
• 1 ½ liters of water
• 1 tsp salt
• 100 g streaky bacon
• 2 tbsp lard
• 2 carrots
• 1 onion(s)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 handful of parsley, freshly chopped
• 1 handful of arugula, freshly chopped
• ½ liter white wine (Pinot Grigio)
• 5 tomatoes
• 1 handful of raisins
• 20 g dark chocolate
• 3 stalk(s) Celery
• 1 pinch of cinnamon powder
• 1 pinch of hot paprika powder
• e.g. salt and pepper

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 2 hours 50 minutes; Total time approx. 3 hours 10 minutes

Italian recipe

Have the butcher chop the oxtail into pieces. Rinse briefly under cold water, place in boiling salted water, and cook for about 10 minutes. Peel the carrots, garlic, and onions and dice everything very finely. Sort and finely chop the parsley and arugula. Cut the bacon into fine strips. Heat the lard in a large casserole dish and briefly fry the bacon. Now brown the partially cooked oxtail pieces as well. Deglaze everything with 1/8 l white wine and let it reduce. Add the finely chopped vegetables along with the parsley and arugula and sauté. Pour in the remaining wine. Peel the tomatoes and puree them with 1 ladleful of the meat’s cooking water. Add the puree to the meat and reduce. Add the raisins and chocolate. Cover the meat and simmer over low heat for about 2 hours. After that, all the vegetables and raisins should be cooked through. I still pureed them. Finely slice the celery and add it to the meat. Continue braising for about half an hour. Once the meat is cooked, season the sauce with salt, pepper, paprika, and cinnamon, and sprinkle with fresh, chopped parsley. This sauce is delicious with either a slice of white bread or gnocchi.