Spezzatino is a beloved, typical dish of Italian home cooking. It's is made with beef, even though veal is also very common, onion, carrot an celery flavor base and one or more other vegetables, most common are peas and/or potatoes but you'll also find other variations of this recipe that you can try.
The word spezzatino is a diminutive of the word spezzato, meaning fragmented, and it refers to the way the meat is cut for this dish. In fact, it is diced.
Hearty, filling and comforting it is usually prepared for Sunday family lunch.
Spezzatino gets even better the next day, so don't be shy to make a large pot.
Table Of Contents
Stew or not stew, this is the question
Spezzatino is often translated in English as stew. Stew in Italian is stufato, though.
It derives from the word stufa, stove (once used to cook it). A stew can be prepared with meat but also with veggies, fish or legumes.
When meat based, the meat can be cut in slices or dices. Only in the latter case, it is called spezzatino. So basically spezzatino is a type of stew.
Ingredients & Possible Substitutes
- Beef - beef chuck or shoulder or brisket work the best since during long cooking time this tough cuts will become tender and flavorful. You can also use veal if you want to make veal spezzatino. In this case you'll need to reduce cooking time since veal cooks much faster.
- Red Wine - use medium quality dry red wine. Don't worry, you'll only need a generous splash. As an alternative you can use dry white wine.
- Soffritto - Carrot, celery, onion all medium size vegetables.
- Tomato paste - can be substituted with crushed tomatoes or with tomato sauce (passata).
- Bay leaf - fresh or dry bay leaf.
- Fresh herbs - parsley, sage, rosemary. Rresh herbs are the best, but can be substituted with dry herbs if needed.
- Flour - for dusting the meat. This is also what gives spezzatino light thickness.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil - for roasting the meat and soffritto.
- Broth or water - homemade meat broth gives spezzatino a far superior flavor, so if you have it handy (fresh made or frozen) by all means use it. Another alternative is to use tomato sauce (passata) with a little water if needed. In this case you can skip tomato paste.
How To Make Spezzatino - Step By Step
It's quicker and easier to make spezzatino when you prepare all the ingredients before starting cooking the meat. Follow this step-by-step instructions to see exactly how to do it.
Prepare The Basis
- Finely chop vegetables for soffritto: carrot, celery and onion.
- Mince all herbs except bay leaf: sage, rosemary (leaves only) and parsley.
- prepare the meat. If needed, cut it into medium size cubes equal in size as possible. Roll each piece in flour, tapping out the excess flour.
Cook Soffritto
- Add a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil in a pan along with chopped carrot, celery and onion.
- Cook on medium low heat, stirring occasionally once the vegetables become soft. Once soffritto is ready transfer it to a bowl. This way you can use the same pan to prepare the meat and the entire dish.
Roast the meat and proceed with cooking
- In a large pan add a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and flour covered meat.
- Roast for a few minutes on each side then add fresh minced herbs.
- Give a nice stir then add red wine. Let cook on high heat for a few minutes until the wine has almost evaporated.
- Add cooked soffritto and give a nice stir.
- Add hot water or broth, bay leaf and tomato paste.
Stir well, cover with a lid and let simmer on low heat for 45-90 minutes (depending on the type and cut of the meat you’ve chosen). - A few minutes before spezzatino is ready add peas. Let cook for another 5 minutes and turn the heat off.
Spezzatino Variations
Spezzatino With Potatoes is another popular version of spezzatino. Dice potatoes into medium size cubes, ideally the same size of the meat and add to the meat half through the cooking time. You can still add or skip the peas, which are always added at the end.
You'll love this version of spezzatino because it doesn't need any side. Essentially you have a one-pot meal for the whole family.
Spezzatino With Carrots - just like with the variation above, add diced carrots to spezzatino and finish cooking until carrots become tender. You can also use a mix of carrots and potatoes or carrots and peas or even all the above.
Spezzatino With Mushrooms can be made with or without potatoes. You fresh or frozen mushrooms. Make sure to sautee them first with butter garlic and parsley as in Funghi Trifolati then set aside. You can continue cooking the meat in the same pan. Add cooked mushrooms halftime through the cooking. Skip tomato paste for this version of spezzatino.
Tips - Don't Miss!
- Chose the right cut of meat. It shouldn’t be too lean. In fact, the more connective tissues and fatty lines it has the softer your spezzatino will be.
- Aim to cut meat into pieces of roughly the same size so that they cook evenly.
- Beware of the soffritto! Soffritto is a mixture of sautéed, finely chopped onion, carrot, and celery. This is the key to many Italian dishes. In the case of spezzatino it is better to cook the soffritto in a separate casserole. The vegetables must be stewed and become soft. Only after carefully browning the meat can you combine the two things, adding the soffritto, and then the broth.
- Salt at the end of cooking. The juices and flavor will become more concentrated by the time spezzatino is cooked. If you salt it in the beginning you risk oversalting.
- Stretch the leftovers! If you don’t have enough leftovers to serve the whole family for the second time - add a few boiled potatoes cut in large cubes to spezzatino leftovers and simmer for 5 minutes on low heat to combine all the flavors.
You can do this even with frozen leftovers, just thaw then in advance.
Serve spezzatino over polenta (the most traditional way) or over mashed potatoes. It also goes great with roasted potatoes!
You chose the wrong cut. The most important thing is to choose the right piece of meat in the first place. It shouldn’t be lean. In order to obtain a soft spezzatino, you need to buy a fatty cut like brisket or shoulder. Or… I’m sure your butcher can give you the right suggestion.
Another suggestion is to cut the meat in similar pieces. This will ensure an even cooking.
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Full Recipe
Spezzatino - Italian Beef Stew
Ingredients
- 1.5 pound beef or veal , 700 grams
- 3 cups peas 450 grams
- 1 carrot
- 1 celery
- 1 onion
- ⅓ cup red wine
- 3 tablespoon tomato paste , 40 grams
- 1 bay leaf
- Fresh herbs: Sage , parsley, rosemary
- 1 ½ cups of water , start with one cup add more if needed
- 3 tablespoon flour , more if needed
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt, pepper to taste
Instructions
Before you start
- Finely chop vegetable for soffritto: carrot, celery and onion.
- Mince all herbs except bay leaf: sage, rosemary (leaves only) and parsley.
- Prepare the meat. If needed, cut it into medium size cubes equal in size as possible. Roll each piece in flour, tapping out the excess flour.
Make Spezzatino
- Add a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil in a pan along with chopped carrot, celery and onion. Cook on medium low heat, stirring occasionally once the vegetables become soft. Once soffritto is ready transfer it to a bowl. This way you can use the same pan to prepare the meat and the entire dish.
- In a large pan add a generous drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and flour covered meat.
- Roast for a few minutes on each side then add fresh minced herbs.
- Give a nice stir then add red wine. Let cook on high heat for a few minutes until the wine has almost evaporated.
- Add soffritto Give a nice stir.Add hot water or broth, bay leaf and tomato paste.
- Stir well, cover with a lid and let simmer on low heat for 1.5-2 hours (depending on the type and cut of the meat you’ve chosen).
- A few minutes before spezzatino is ready add peas. This is also the time to taste and adjust for salt.Let cook for another 5 minutes and turn the heat off.
- Spezzatino can be served hot or warm.It will keep well in the fridge for 2 days or up to 3 months in the freezer.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Kylee says
I grew up eating this, very often! We used to call it "red stuff" as kids. My mums cousin had an Italian husband, she shared the recipe with my Mum and my Aunties, so so all of my family had this on high rotation in winter. Lovely
Rosie says
Sounds like Beef Stew. I make dumplings, to go on top. Yummy!
Carolann says
Oh my everything sounds so good . Thank you for the recipes. I’ll be making them soon.