The stew it is an ideal dish to face cold winter days. The classic preparation involves the use of meat as a basic ingredient, but the chef de The School of Italian Cuisine they advise to dare, using other products. Here three advice to prepare a steaming stew, with which to astonish guests.

1. The ingredients

In case you choose the meat as an ingredient we must prefer fat cuts is nerve: during cooking, the connective tissue will become gelatinous, making the pulp very soft and helping to enrich the juice.
Any other ingredient is chosen, like fish or vegetables, the dimension some pieces must be about 4 centimeters by 4 centimeters. In fact, these measures allow the cooking to soften the initial consistency.

2. Cooking

To prepare a stew, the first step is the searing from ingredients in a casserole with a fat component, such as butter or lard. This step allows you to concentrate the flavor and seal the juices inside.
The stew provides, then, one Slow cooking: the fire must be low and, if necessary, it is necessary to wet the ingredients with water or broth. For a more tasty version, in the case of a beef stew, you can add wine or milk, for a more delicate version.
There temperature it must not exceed the 80-90 ° C, to prevent the meat from drying too much.

3. The flour

There flour It is a fundamental ingredient in making stew, especially meat. Its function is to give one gilding greater, during the browning phase, as well as that of to tie there sauce. The attention must, however, be placed on the amount of this ingredient: dosing badly, you could ruin everything.

Alternative stew: the recipe

The concept of stew can decline beyond the classic preparations. The chefs de The School of Italian Cuisine in fact, they recommend one cuttlefish stew with celeriac and Jerusalem artichoke.

Ingredients for 4 people

300 g Sepia
200 g Celeriac
200 g Jerusalem artichoke
1 l Fish cartoon
30 g Chopped onion
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper

Method

Cut the cuttlefish into strips and brown them in a saucepan with a little oil and the onion. Then sprinkle with the fish stock and continue cooking.
Cut the Jerusalem artichoke into small pieces, season with oil and salt; roast them in the oven for a few minutes.
Then peel the celeriac and cut it into cubes.
Once the cuttlefish are cooked, add the vegetables and cook.
Serve the cuttlefish stew hot.

If you want to learn other techniques in the kitchen, come to La Scuola de La Cucina Italiana!

Texts by Caterina Limido