Žgvacet - Istrian (Croatian) beef stew

Žgvacet is a traditional Istrian (peninsula in the north western part of Croatia) goulash-like slow cooked dish. Traditionally it was mostly made from hen (old chicken) meet even though other meat options are just as tasty. Typical for Žgvacet is that you need to brown the meat first, than you add the onions and afterwards use a lot of wine to cook it in. Since this is an old traditional dish there are as many original recipes as there are grandmothers in Istria since every one of them adds that little extra something that makes her Žgvacet the best.

Time needed: about 3,5 hours
Preparation: about 30 minutes
​Cooking: about 3 hours

Ingredients: 
​5 red onions
2 cloves of garlic
1 kg lean beef (2 lbs) 
1 kg beef with bones (2lbs)
1 tbsp tomato puree
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 l red vine (2 and 1/4 cups)
2 bay leaves
1 tsp  rosemary 
salt, pepper
​
Optional ingredients:
2 small carrots
1 yellow carrot
1 parsley root
1/2 cup diced leek
​1/2 cup diced celeriac 

Method:
1. Cut your meat into large pieces (double of what would be "bite size").
2. Finely chop the onions (feel free to use a food processor for this one).
3. Chop other veggies (except garlic) into small cubes. 

4. Put 2 tbsp olive oil In a large heavy bottom pot (we are using our dutch oven).
5. Add your meat in batches and brown from all sides.
6. Remove the meat to a plate on the side, add another tbsp of olive oil if needed and put your onions into the pot. Saute them until very soft. 
7. Using a garlic press (or just finely chopped) add the garlic to your onions and give it a minute to fry up.
8. Add 1 tbsp of tomato paste and mix well with onions and garlic.
9. Add the rest of your veggies and saute for another minute or two. 
10. Put your meat back to the pot.
11. Add your spices and red wine.
12. If needed, add some water to cover all the ingredients. 

13. Give it all a light stir and bring to a boil. 
14. Once your stew is boiling reduce the heat to very low.
15. Cover with a lid and forget about it for about 2.5 - 3 hours.
16. After about 3 hours the meat should be really nice and tender and the liquid will be reduced by a lot.

17. Give it a taste, add more salt if needed,
18. Remember to remove the bones and the bay leaves from the pot before serving!
19. Serve with pasta, gnocchi, polenta, rice, or go full on traditional and make your own home made traditional pasta - Fuži (check the recipe HERE) 

Have a bite!

Tips:
If you want to make this dish using chicken (or hen) use some white wine instead of red and reduce the cooking time to 40 minutes to 1 hour.