Tyrolean goulash

Ingredients for 4 persons:

• 800 g beef (shoulder or priest’s cap), cubed
• 500 g onions white or golden, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons oil o clarified butter
• 2 tablespoons sweet paprika (best if Hungarian)
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 leaf laurel
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
• Meat stock q.b.
• Salt and black pepper
• A pinch of smoked paprika o chili pepper
• For the polenta: 375 g cornmeal

Directions:

Soffritto
In large saucepan, stew onions with oil/butter over low heat for 20-25 minutes: they should become soft and slightly caramelized (this is the secret of goulash).
Remove from heat, add paprika and cumin, stir quickly.

Meat
Return to heat, add meat, brown well on all sides.
Add tomato paste, bay leaf, marjoram, salt and pepper.
Barely cover with hot broth

Put the lid on and cook over very low heat for 2-2.5 hours, stirring occasionally. The sauce should be thick and enveloping.
At the end of cooking, add smoked paprika or chili pepper.

Let stand 10 minutes before serving (the next day is even better).

Polenta
Bring 1.5 l salted water to a boil and pour in 375 g cornmeal by sprinkling while stirring (watch for lumps). Continue stirring and cook for 40-50 minutes.

Serve soft or spread out on cutting board, with goulash on top.

In the glass, chosen by Stefania Vinciguerra:

Alto Adige Lagrein 2024 Muri-Gries

Deep and bright purplish-red color. The nose opens on violet and wild blackberry, followed by ripe plum and black cherry, with elegant hints of bitter cocoa, licorice and a fine spice. In the mouth it is full and enveloping, supported by a well-calibrated freshness that lightens the structure. The tannin is well integrated into the fruit, and the sip is juicy, dynamic, with returns of dark fruit.

Production area: Vineyards in the sunny Bolzano basin at 260 meters above sea level on a south-facing sandy alluvial soil.

Grape varieties: 100% Lagrein.

Production processes: after 8 days of fermentation at a controlled temperature of 28°C in stainless steel, the wine ages in large 30-50 hl wooden barrels.

Alcohol content: 13.30 % vol.

Longevity: Best expressed when drunk within 5 years.

Serving temperature: 14-16°C.

Recommended pairings: Grilled meat or a tasty entrecôte with herb butter; braised beef in red wine, with soft polenta; lamb loin or roast pork shank; stewed wild boar or game stew (venison, deer); Tyrolean goulash with spätzle or polenta.