LA GENOVESE GENOVESE SAUCE

Ingredientes

SERVES 6 TO 8

5½ to 6½ pounds (2.5 to 3 kg) red onions

2 carrots

2 stalks celery

3½ pounds (1.5 kg) beef for braising (you can mix the pieces)

Flour

Thyme

Olive oil

3 or 4 small tomatoes from Vesuvius (otherwise, olive or cherry tomatoes)

Wine (white or red)

Meat broth (beef or chicken)

Salt

1½ pounds (700 g) ziti, broken by hand

Freshly grated 24-month-old Parmesan cheese

A few basil leaves, chopped

Freshly ground black pepper

Instrucciones

Peel and cut the onions into thin rings. Peel and cut the carrots and celery into small dice. Cut the meat

Notas

"IN THE GENOA STYLE" → In the fourteenth century, Liber de coquina, a cookbook focusing on southern French cuisine and used in the Angevin court, attests to the existence of tria ianuensis (pasta from Genoa), which is pasta cooked in water and seasoned with fried onions, spices, cheese, and boiled meat. → The recipe's modern version could be found during the fifteenth century in a pub in the port of Naples run by a former Genoese sailor. → Another more lyrical possibility behind its name: it was invented by a very famous chef nicknamed 'Genovese who was a cook in the city around the same time.

A CLASSIC In 1839, Genovese sauce officially entered the repertoire of Neapolitan cuisine thanks to Ippolito Cavalcanti, Duke of Buonvicino, who provided the recipe in his treatise Cucina Teorica- Practica (Theoretical-Practical Cuisine),

under the name raguetto alla genovese

(little ragù à la Genovese).

WHICH PASTA?

Use ziti spezzati a mano, a very long, 'smooth, hollow-tube pasta, broken up before cooking, used in the past for wedding feasts (ziti means "fiancés"). Otherwise, paccheri and rigatoni (short and thick pasta) are permitted.

THE COOKING

In the casserole dish, Genovese sauce must pippiare, a Neapolitan verb for braised, very long cooking over a low heat (four to five hours, covered) so that it concentrates flavors and takes on the amber color. In Naples, Genovese sauce is a Sunday dish. The cooking begins on Friday; the dish matures on Saturday and is served on Sunday.