dry red wine

It would be hard to find a simpler meal than Mr. Claiborne’s hearty beef stew, which goes beautifully with buttered noodles and a stout glass of red wine. (Or, for the children, a glass of milk.) A small scattering of cloves adds a floral note to the gravy, augmented by just a little thyme, and the combination pairs beautifully with the carrots you add near the end of the cooking process, to prevent them from going mushy in the heat. Sprinkle chopped parsley over the finished dish, of course, a nod to the past that rewards in beauty and flavor alike.

Craig Claiborne's Beef Stew

chuck steak

olive oil

Salt and pepper

garlic

onions

flour

water

cloves

bay leaf

thyme

parsley,

carrots,

Using a large skillet, heat the oil and add the beef cubes in one layer. Add salt and pepper and cook, stirring and turning the pieces often, for about 10 minutes.

Add the garlic and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, for another 10 minutes. Sprinkle with flour and stir to coat the meat evenly.

Add the wine and stir until the mixture boils and thickens. Stir in the water. Add the cloves, bay leaf, thyme and parsley. Cover closely and simmer for one hour.

Meanwhile, cut the carrots into one-inch lengths. If the pieces are very large, cut them in half lengthwise. Add them to the beef. Cover and continue cooking for 30 minutes, or until the carrots are tender. Serve the stew sprinkled with chopped parsley.

Meaty mushrooms simmered with pearl onions, wine and carrots make for a rich, wintry Bourguignon-style stew. The quality of the stock here makes a big difference, so if you’re not using homemade, buy a good brand. If you’re a meat eater, beef broth adds a familiar brawny character to this dish, but mushroom or vegetable broth work just well, especially because the whole dish is rounded out with a tamari for depth. For the best flavor, use as many kinds of mushrooms as you can get, and let them really brown when searing; that caramelization adds a lot of depth to the sauce. Maitake mushrooms give this a brisketlike texture, in a very good way.

Mushroom Bourguignon

butter or extra-virgin olive oil, plus more as needed

mushrooms,

salt and black pepper

leek

carrots, thinly sliced

garlic (2 minced, 1 grated to a paste)

tomato paste

all-purpose flour

beef, mushroom or vegetable broth

tamari or soy sauce, plus more to taste

thyme thyme

Smoked paprika,

Polenta, egg noodles

flat-leaf parsley,

Add 2 tablespoons butter or oil to a large Dutch oven or pot and set it over medium heat. When the fat is hot, stir in half the mushrooms and half the pearl onions. (If it doesn’t all fit in the pot in one layer, you might have to do this in three batches, rather than two.) Without moving them around too much, cook the mushrooms until they are brown on one side, about 3 minutes. Stir and let them brown on the other side, 2 to 3 minutes more. Use a slotted spoon to transfer mushrooms and onions to a large bowl or plate and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Repeat with another 2 tablespoons butter and the remaining mushrooms and pearl onions, seasoning them as you go.

Reduce heat to medium-low. Add another 1 tablespoon butter or oil to pan. Add leeks and carrot and sauté until the leeks turn lightly golden and start to soften, 5 minutes. Add the 2 minced garlic cloves and sauté for 1 minute longer. Stir in tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Stir in flour and cook, stirring, for 1 minute, then add wine, broth, 1 tablespoon tamari, thyme and bay leaf, scraping up the brown bits at bottom of pot.

Add reserved cooked mushrooms and pearl onions back to the pot and bring to a simmer. Partly cover the pot and simmer on low heat until carrots and onions are tender and sauce is thick, 30 to 40 minutes. Taste and add more salt and tamari if needed. Stir in the grated garlic clove.

Just before serving, heat a small skillet over high heat and add 1/2 tablespoon butter or oil. Add half of the sliced chanterelles or oyster mushrooms and let cook without moving until they are crisp and brown on one side, 1 to 2 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side. Transfer to a plate and sprinkle with salt and smoked paprika. Repeat with remaining butter and mushrooms. Serve mushroom Bourguignon over polenta, noodles or mashed potatoes, topped with fried mushrooms and parsley.

Meat Sauce

Basic Meat Sauce recipe

oregano oregano leaves

basil basil

coffee

Salt and black pepper

To the basic meat sauce mixture add the remaining ingredients.

Simmer about 1 hour, until the mixture is thick.

Sauce can be refrigerated up to three days or frozen for longer.

There is nothing to stop you from serving spiced beef in red wine at a dinner party, but proper cooking should not be undertaken only for company. I make a batch of the beef and, when it is cool, bag it up in single portions and put it in the freezer. It makes a great warming supper for nights when you are lazing on a sofa watching television. Just because it's Wednesday, you need not have to resort to a bagel or grilled cheese for dinner.

Spiced Beef in Red Wine

bacon, roughly chopped

onions,

leeks, white and light-green parts only, roughly chopped

parsley

chuck

vegetable oil,

red wine

beef stock beef broth

Worcestershire sauce

star anise

brown sugar

Working in batches in a food processor, process bacon, onions, leeks, carrots and parsley until finely chopped. Transfer mixture to a large bowl, and set aside. Place flour in a freezer bag or other plastic bag. Season with salt and pepper. Add steak cubes, seal bag, and shake until cubes are well coated.

Place a flameproof casserole dish over medium heat, and add 2 tablespoons oil. When hot, add beef in batches, turning until well seared on all sides. As beef is browned, transfer to a plate, and set aside.

If casserole dish is dry, add 1 tablespoon oil. Place over medium heat, and add bacon and vegetable mixture and ground cloves. Sauté until softened, about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, combine wine, beef stock, Worcestershire sauce, star anise and brown sugar. Place over medium-high heat, and bring to a boil. When vegetables have softened, pour liquid over vegetables.

Return beef to pan, and stir well. Bring to a boil, partly cover, and reduce heat to low. Simmer gently until beef is tender, about 2 hours. Serve hot. If desired, stew may be cooked and then covered and refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for a month.

A timpano is a highly festive, drum-shaped, baked pasta torte filled with all kinds of delectable goodies — meatballs, cheeses, sausages or ragù, hard-boiled eggs and penne, all coated in a rich Sunday-gravy-type tomato sauce. This updated version is more streamlined, nixing the eggs and meatballs in flavor of roasted squash and sautéed garlicky broccoli rabe, and using purchased fresh pasta sheets instead of homemade. It’s lighter, a little easier and a lot more colorful, without sacrificing the cheesy, meaty essence of the dish.

Making a timpano is undeniably a project, but you can do much of the work a few days ahead, including making the sauce and cooking the vegetables, which can be made up to 2 days ahead. Then set aside half an hour before baking to layer everything in the mold. Serve this at a dinner party when you’re looking to impress.

Modern Timpano

extra-virgin olive oil,

onion,

red chile flakes

salt,

tomatoes

basil, basil sprig

butternut squash

(about broccoli

ricotta

black pepper

nutmeg

penne rigate pasta

buffalo mozzarella (drained weight; usually about 2 balls), torn into bite-size pieces

salami,

Unsalted butter,

pasta sheets (usually sold for lasagna)

Make the sauce: In a large skillet over medium-high heat, warm 1 tablespoon of oil. Add sausage and cook until well browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate to drain.

Return pan to heat, add another tablespoon of oil and stir in smashed garlic cloves. Sauté for 1 minute, then stir in the onion, red chile flakes and a large pinch of kosher salt. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until garlic is browned around the edges and onion is softened, 7 to 10 minutes.

Pour in wine and let simmer until reduced by half, about 5 minutes.

Stir in tomato purée, basil sprig and 1 teaspoon kosher salt. Bring to a very gentle simmer and cook until thick and deeply flavored, 40 to 50 minutes.

Meanwhile, roast the squash: Heat oven to 425 degrees. Place squash on a rimmed baking sheet, drizzle with 2 tablespoons oil, salt and pepper, and toss well to coat. Roast until browned and tender, 35 to 40 minutes, turning the squash pieces after 20 minutes so they cook evenly. Let cool.

Prepare the broccoli rabe: Roughly cut up the rabe into 1-inch pieces. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, warm remaining 2 tablespoons oil. Add sliced garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Stir in broccoli rabe and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, tossing frequently, until just barely tender, 5 to 7 minutes.  If the garlic starts to get very brown before the rabe is tender, add a tablespoon of water to the pan if necessary. Let cool.

Prepare the ricotta mixture: In a medium bowl, stir together ricotta, egg, 1/4 cup chopped basil, the black pepper and the nutmeg.

Cook the penne in a large pot of very well-salted water for 4 minutes (it won’t even be halfway cooked, but will finish cooking in the timpano). Drain and put penne into a large bowl. Toss with the sauce, sausage, mozzarella, and salami or prosciutto.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Generously butter bottom and sides of a 3- to 4-quart Dutch oven.

Assemble the timpano: Brush any clinging cornmeal or flour from the pasta sheets if necessary. Use pasta sheets to cover bottom and up the sides of the pot, patching as needed to make sure there are no gaps. Leave any overhanging dough draped over the sides to help cover the filling.

Spoon 1/3 of the pasta mixture into the bottom of the pot. For the best presentation when you cut this, you could try to make sure that all the penne face the same way, but it’s not essential. Top with the ricotta mixture, then another 1/3 of the pasta. Arrange squash pieces on top of pasta, and tuck broccoli rabe around and over squash. Finish with a layer of the remaining pasta mixture.

Tuck the overhanging lasagna over the filling, and fill in any gaps with more pasta dough. You want to make sure the whole top is covered. Brush top of the timpano with water to make sure that the casserole is tightly sealed. Cover the Dutch oven with its cover or with foil.

Transfer pot to oven and bake for 1 hour. Uncover pot and continue cooking until it reaches an internal temperature of 120 degrees, about 15 to 20 minutes longer. Let it cool, uncovered, for 20 minutes. Run a butter knife along the edges of the pot to make sure the timpano isn’t sticking. Place a large platter or cutting board over the pot and flip, unmolding the timpano from the pot. Let cool 10 to 20 minutes more before slicing and serving.

A streamlined dinner-party centerpiece that is just as delectable as more authentic versions, but faster, easier and a bit lighter.

Timpano

Wow your guests with this vegan and savoury &quot;beef&quot; wellington made with mushrooms, white bean, sweet potato and walnuts for the filling. Wrapped in flaky and buttery puff pastry, and baked until golden. This is an impressive meaty main-dish that&#039;s higher in protein than most vegan wellington recipes, due to the addition of beans and walnuts in the mushroom filling!

Vegan Mushroom Wellington

potato

olive oil (, divided)

sea salt

oz cremini mushrooms (, roughly chopped)

walnuts

(400 ml) white beans (, strained and rinsed (1 1/2 cups))

shallots (finely chopped)

garlic (finely chopped)

tsp sea salt

cinnamon

thyme leaves

½ tbsp tamari

parsley ((finely chopped))

vegan puff pastry ((14-ounce package, thawed))

butter

sesame seeds

vegan gravy

Preheat oven to 400F/200C. In a baking tray, toss the sweet potatoes with 2 tbsp olive oil and sea salt. Spread onto the tray and roast  until golden and fork tender, 25 minutes. Place to the side.

Pulse the cremini mushrooms in a food processor until finely chopped,, place in a bowl to the side. Add the walnuts to the food processor and pulse until very finely ground. Place in a bowl to the side. Add the white beans to the food process and pulse until a mashed consistency. Place to the side.

In a large skillet add the shallots, garlic  sea salt, drizzle with 2 tbsp olive oil and cook on medium heat until softened, about 3 minutes. Add the mushroom and walnut and cook on medium until the mushroom has softened and most of the water is removed, about 6 minutes.

Pour in 2 tbsp more olive oil and then add in the mashed white beans and cooked sweet potatoes. Sprinkle the filling with cinnamon, nutmeg, thyme and fresh parsley. Pour in the red wine, tamari and tomato paste. Mix everything to combine and cook on a low simmer until most of the moisture is removed. Set the filling aside.

Filling

Allow the rolls of puff pastry to sit at room temperature for 15 minutes before rolling them out and assembling your dish. Pre-heat oven to 400F/200C. When the pastry has thawed, roll them out to lay flat on the baking tray.  

Place one sheet on the tray, scoop the filling into the middle to form a log leaving at least a 1 inch border. Top with the second sheet of pastry and press down the edges. Trim any excess and crimp the base with a fork. (Optional to re-roll excess dough and use small cookie cutter to make decorative pastry for the top).

Cut several slits in the top off the pastry at an angle to leg out steam, optional to top with your cut out pastry shapes. Paint the top with melted vegan butter and sprinkle with sesame seeds

Cook until the pastry is golden and flaky, about 40-50 minutes. If the edges brown first, loosely cover those with tin foil unti the middle is more golden too. Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before slicing. Optional to serve with vegan gravy.  

Top 6 dry red wine recipes from across the web

The most viewed dry red wine recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine

Top Tags

Craig Claiborne's Beef Stew

Mushroom Bourguignon

Meat Sauce

Spiced Beef in Red Wine

Modern Timpano

Vegan Mushroom Wellington

Top 6 dry red wine recipes from across the web

The most viewed dry red wine recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Craig Claiborne's Beef Stew

Mushroom Bourguignon

Meat Sauce

Spiced Beef in Red Wine

Modern Timpano

Vegan Mushroom Wellington

The most viewed dry red wine recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 6,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine