It was not often,that one was plump enough in the purse to buy a kilo or so of meat from the butcher, carry it home, and cook it up into some luscious, soulful dish. When fortune placed in one’s purse a few centesimi more than were necessary for subsistence, one sought out the carnacottaro (an itinerant seller of cooked meat).

　　

Ingredients

serves 6

　　1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

　　3 to 4 pounds leg of veal, well trimmed and tied at 2-inch intervals with butcher’s twine

　　1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt

　　2 ounces sun-dried tomatoes, drained of their preserving oil, slivered

　　6 ounces large green and black Sicilian, Greek, or Spanish olives, lightly crushed with a wooden mallet, stones removed, and coarsely chopped

　　1/2 cup white raisins, plumped in warm white wine

　　1 1/2 cups canned tomato puree

　　2 1/2 cups dry white wine

　　

Step 1

In a large terra-cotta or enameled cast-iron casserole over a lively flame, warm the olive oil and seal the veal, crusting it well on all sides. Remove the veal to a holding plate, sprinkling on the sea salt. Add the sun-dried tomatoes, the olives, and the raisins to the casserole, stirring the ingredients together for about 1 minute before adding the tomato puree and the wine and bringing the sauce to a simmer. Turn down the flame, add the veal, cover the casserole tightly, and, over the quietest flame, permit the liquids to barely simmer around the veal for 1 1/2 hours.

　　

Step 2

Remove the cover and baste the meat, adding a few tablespoonfuls more wine if the liquids seem scant. Replace the lid and braise the veal ever so slowly for an additional 1/2 hour or until the meat is fork-tender.

　　

Step 3

Permit the veal to rest in its sauce, the lid in place, for 1 hour or so before reheating gently.

　　

Step 4

Use a few generous spoonfuls of the good sauce for just-cooked pasta—perhaps ziti or penne cooked to al dente, drained and tossed with a generous dollop of sweet butter and handfuls of just-grated pecorino before adding the sauce.

　　

Step 5

When ready to present the veal, remove it to a deep platter, spooning some of the sauce around it. Carve it into 1/3-inch-thick slices at table and offer the remaining sauce from a small bowl.

　　

Step 6

One might use a loin of pork or a round of beef in place of the veal, extending the braising session a bit longer.

　　A Taste of Southern Italy