Lorna at Vicenza

That looks delicious, as good as any I've been served in restaurants and trattoria. Now that you've got a meat slicer you could try another "Italian" dish which they call Roast Beef all'Inglese, (also seen misspelled as Rosbif) but it's not at all how we eat roast beef. You can buy it at all the deli counters just as you buy ham or other cold, sliced meats. Basically they roast the joint just as we do, leaving it pink in the middle and when it's cold they slice it very thinly. In restaurants the meat slices are spread out on a plate and you're supposed to add a sprinkle of salt, a drizzle of oil and some (optional) fresh lemon juice. Sometimes a handful of rocket is thrown on top. It doesn't beat our traditional Sunday roast with Yorkshire Puddings and gravy, but I like it as a refreshing, no cook summer dish. When the temps in your house reach 32 plus degrees, there is no way you'd turn the oven on to make a Sunday roast.

philat98

Is that the same as bresaola?

Lorna at Vicenza

No. Bresaola is salted, air-dryed beef. It's harder to the touch and taste (like Speck isn't as soft or as sweet as prosciutto crudo) and it's a darker colour, almost burgundy/deep claret coloured. Italian roast beef all'inglese is a roast joint as we know it except cold and sliced very thinly. It's like any leftover roast beef we might have after Sunday lunch that we put in a sandwhich the next day, except we carve ours and the Italians slice it like they do ham.

BuckinghamshireBoy

Funnily enough, it was the idea of roast beef that helped me decide to get the slicer. A week or so before vitello #1 I had roasted some beef for the first time in absolutely ages. Apart from slicing it a bit too warm, I had slightly overcooked it - it wasn't a total disaster, but I was left feeling Could Do Better.

If it's to be served cold, then assuming I can get my roasting act together, the slicer should give the desired result. Also, I see no reason why thin slices couldn't be gently warmed up in a gravy for a more British-style presentation.

jonwel

No, bresaola is beef cured in a similar way to prosciutto - it's not cooked at all.
Goes very well with rocket and mozzarella.

BuckinghamshireBoy

Okey dokey; the beef is glistening 'cos it's only just been sliced, so an hour or two in an airy, cat-free environment should sort that.



I'm likely going to go with Grana Padano shavings and a hint of olive oil - or maybe avocado oil - for my first run out of this dish.

+ frietjes and some green curly stuff.

philat98

Have you tried making fresh pasta? We have it every Sunday lunch. Well worth the effort. Easy with an electric pasta maker.

BuckinghamshireBoy

No, I've never tried making pasta; we're not huge fans, most of the time I use 'shapes' - farfalle, fusilli etc - in an integrated bolo/pastitsio type oven-baked dish.

Once in a blue moon I'll make Saltimbocca, so some decent tagliatelle wouldn't go amiss there.

However, before having a belt at pasta I really need to sort out my 'chinese' pancakes ...

Lorna at Vicenza

As I sit here thinking, "I'm hungry and can't really be bothered to cook any dinner" your photo came up and it looks bloody delicious.

Geordieborn

Yeah but no sprouts... tut , tut

BuckinghamshireBoy

'twas honestly melt in mouth, I seem to have learnt how to roast

I kept some back for today's lunchtime sandwich, which was equally good.

The rest is in the freezer. 800g raw yielded +/- 550g when roasted.

BuckinghamshireBoy

I'm err ... somewhat averse to sprouts ...

Lorna at Vicenza

All the regular posters know how much I loathe sprouts. My mother put three on my plate every Wednesday and ruined every Christmas dinner by insisting I had at least one sprout. I spent much of my youth trying to get rid of my sprouts. Managed to sneakily throw one under the dining table one evening but even the bloody dog wouldn't eat it and mum found it the next day.

When my daughter was about two and a half we were in England for Christmas and my mum asked her, "do you like sprouts Chloe?" She replied, "I don't know Grandma. What are they?" I had never bought, cooked or served a sprout in my house. I still haven't and my daughter is 23 now.

Geordieborn

Deprived children!