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  • Italian Beef Stew With Polenta
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Italian Beef Stew With Polenta

Serves 4

The flavors in this dish come primarily from the ARIEL Cabernet Sauvignon and vegetables, with the beef just rounding them out; the experience is what Graham would describe as “meat in a minor key!” It can be served with pasta or rice instead of polenta, but the polenta has a special creamy texture that goes beautifully with the chewy meat and tender vegetables.

Ingredients

Stew

• 1 tsp. light olive oil, with a dash of toasted sesame oil
• 12 oz beef round, trimmed of all fat and cut into 1-inch cubes
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 1 ounce Canadian bacon, chopped
• 1 cup chopped onion
• ½ cup diced carrots
• 1/3 cup chopped celery
• 1 tsp. oregano
• ½ tsp. thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 cup ARIEL Cabernet Sauvignon
• ½ cup low-sodium beef broth, preferably homemade
• ½ cup low-sodium canned diced tomato
• 1 tsp. arrowroot mixed with 1 Tbsp. ARIEL Cabernet Sauvignon (slurry)

Polenta

• 3 cups cold water
• 1 cup cornmeal
• ¼ tsp. salt
• ¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper

Vegetable

• 2 bunches collard greens, washed, stemmed and lightly steamed

To Prepare

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Heat ½ teaspoon oil in an oven proof skillet. Brown the meat on all sides and remove from the pan. Pour the rest of the oil into the same pan and fry the onion until it starts to wilt, 2 or 3 minutes. Add the garlic, Canadian bacon, carrots, celery, herbs, salt and pepper. Turn the heat to medium and cook for 5 minutes, stirring so the vegetables don&rsuo;t brown. Return the meat to the pan, pour in the wine, broth and tomatoes and add the bay leaf. Cover and bake for 1½ hours in the preheated oven. Discard the bay leaf and add the slurry. Bring to a boil to thicken.

Before the stew is done, start the polenta in a large saucepan. Stir the cornmeal into the boiling water in a slow, steady stream, keeping the water boiling. Add the salt and pepper after the cornmeal has been added. Stir, scraping the bottom and sides of the saucepan often, until the polenta is thick and pulls away from the sides of the pan cleanly. This will take 25 minutes for coarsely ground cornmeal and 5 to 10 minutes for regular cornmeal.

To Serve

Spoon the meat sauce over the polenta and sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley. Served with the steamed collards on the side. Enjoy with ARIEL Rouge or Cabernet Sauvignon.