Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Veal Breast Pasta Sauce

I love the intense taste and luxurious unctuous quality of breast of veal, and thought that it would make a wonderful pasta sauce. The problem with this cut is that it takes forever to cook, so I decided to use a pressure cooker, which greatly speeds things up. Although still a bit time-consuming (an hour from start to finish), it was easy to make and came out great. Here's the recipe for the sauce, which goes with whatever pasta you choose, although the Italians would probably suggest fresh pappardelle or boxed rigatoni.

Bobby Jay's Sugo con Petto di Vitello (Veal Breast Sauce)

Ingredients
  • 3 TBS olive oil
  • 6 ribs cut from a breast of veal, about 3-4 lbs
  • 1 small-medium onion, cut lengthwise in quarters
  • 1 large garlic clove, peeled
  • 1 sprig fresh rosemary
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • salt
  • pepper
Directions
  1. Heat pressure cooker over medium high heat. Add olive oil.
  2. Salt the ribs with kosher salt. Then brown them in hot oil (you probably have to do this in two batches). Put aside.
  3. Deglaze with white wine. Add ribs, garlic clove, onion and rosemary to pressure cooker. Cover, bring to high pressure, then lower heat to medium pressure and cook for 45 minutes.
  4. Let steam escape. CAREFULLY!
  5. Reserve sauce in a bowl or large measuring cup. When meat cools enough to handle, remove the rosemary sprig and separate the meat from the bones, cartilage and other unattractive bits. Add the meat to the reserved sauce. Add to pasta. Do not overdo it; the sauce is rich, and a little goes a long way.
Makes more than enough for a pound of dried pasta.

Bobby Jay

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Where did you get your veal breast? I can't find a vendor anywhere that will sell it to me.

Bobby Jay said...

I get it at Fairway, on Manhattan's Upper West Side, with the ribs already separated.

Otherwise, I would expect that any butcher, including one at a supermarket, will be able to get it for you, even if it takes a bit of notice.

Breast of veal is a wonderful cut, making delicious stuffed roasts, although it must cook for a long time. To make my recipe, you will want the butcher to cut it into individual ribs.