Beef & Barolo, Two Piedmontese Darlings #ItalianFWT

It's the first Saturday of the month which means the Italian Food Wine & Travel bloggers are posting. And, this month, Jill of L'Occasion invited us to post about the Italian Alps. Read her invitation: here.

The #ItalianFWT Line-Up

• Jennifer from Vino Travels shares Vineyards of the Dolomites with 2013 Castel San Michele All'Adige.
• Susannah from Avvinare says White Wines from Aosta Hit High Notes.
• Katelyn from Throne and Vine presents Divinely Alpine - Exploring the Wines of Elena Walch.
• Lauren from The Swirling Dervish tells the story of  Hearts on Fire: A Summer Tradition in Alto Adige.
• Lynn from Savor the Harvest recommends The One High Altitude Wine Region You Must Try.
• Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla cooks up Beef & Barolo, Two Piedmontese Darlings.
• Jeff, author of Food Wine Click gets into Unique Mountain Wines of Alto Adige.
• Martin over at ENOFYLZ Wine Blog provides A Taste of Lugana: 2013 Tenuta Roveglia 'Vigne di Catullo' Lugana Riserva. 
• Gwendolyn of Wine Predator writes about Heading Off to the Alps.
• And Jill at L'Occasion  will have a Winemaker Rendevous: Ivan Giovanett of Castelfelder.

My Wine

I decided to share a wine from Piedmont, made by Damilano. The Damilano company dates back over a century, when Guiseppe Borgogno, the great-grandfather of the current owners, planted the vineyards and began to make wine from the grapes. This tradition continued with Giacomo Damilano, Guiseppe's son-in-law, and is now run by Giacomo's four grandchildren.

The vineyards are situated in the most famous crus of the Langa region: Cannubi, Liste, Fossati, and Brunate. All of these are cultivated almost entirely with Nebbiolo da Barolo with some Dolcetto and Barbera varietals in the mix.

The color is deep ruby red with blue to purple hues. The bouquet is intense with notes of tobacco, leather, and rose. It has a juicy, structured palate with notes of anise, pepper, cherries, and herbs.
It boasts a great depth of flavors with almost a creamy mouthfeel. I knew it would be divine with a rich, meaty dish.

My Dish

When looking for a beef dish hailing from Piedmont, I came to discover that the Piedmontese (in Italian: Piemontese or razza bovina Piemontese) is actually a breed of domestic cattle that originated in the region of Piedmont. These cows are lightly colored - almost a grey-white - and have a genetic mutation that causes 'double muscling.' They are very meaty. Picture Arnold Schwarzenegger as a cow and you'll get the idea.

Due to this unique gene, they have caught the attention of beef cattle breeders the world over. A small group of Piedmontese bulls and cows were imported into Canada in the late 1970s, and into the United States in the early 1980s. Those cows were the beginning of the North American Piedmontese cattle breed.

While my dish is not made from Piedmontese beef, it's a beef dish that goes remarkably well with the Piedmontese wine I poured! I braised thinly sliced beef in a tomato sauce with wine all day, then tossed it with some pasta for a hearty, delicious dinner.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds thinly sliced beef
• 1 onion, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 T olive oil + 1 T olive oil
• 2 C crushed tomatoes
• 1 C red wine
• 1 C beef stock
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• 1/2 C fresh parsley, chopped
• freshly ground salt, to taste
• freshly ground pepper, to taste
• pasta, for serving
• cheese, for serving

 Procedure

Heat 2 T olive oil in a Dutch oven or other lidded pot. When the oil is hot, brown the meat, approximately 3 to 4 minutes. Stir in the onion and sauté until fragrant and beginning to caramelize, approximately 3 to 4 more minutes.

Stir in the tomatoes, wine, stock, and herbs. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low simmer and cover. Let the meat braise for six hours (you can do it for shorter if need be, but the longer you cook, the more tender the meat). Uncover and raise the heat to medium. Cook until the sauce is reduced to your preferred thickness. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

While the sauce thickens, cook pasta and set aside. Toss the cooked pasta into the sauce with 1 T olive oil. Stir to coat completely.

Serve the pasta with cheese for grating.