Recipe2 h 10′
Beef Rosto with Alpine Pasta
A forgotten but delicious recipe from Grandma
Beef rosto with pasta and grated cheese.
A forgotten but delicious recipe from Grandma
Beef rosto with pasta and grated cheese.
I’m always looking for a recipe I haven’t had in a while, and I often pester my family for ideas on what to make. When I started collecting my grandmother’s recipes, I was promised that they would share with me the recipe for rosto, a dish I didn’t remember at all. The description of the dish wasn’t very helpful, so the only solution was to make a rosto myself to remember what it tasted like. Along the way, I learned that etymologically this word is related to the Italian word arrosto, which means roasted meat, and that there’s a traditional pork recipe on Naxos with that name. Grandma’s recipe, however, takes a different approach.
My grandmother used to put beef in her rosto for some reason, and I'm sure she's never been to Naxos. The original recipe called for ditalini pasta, which I wanted to replace with something similar that wouldn’t stray too far from the original idea. I’ve tried Magronen many times in Switzerland, which, if you think about it, have the same shape as ditalini; they just aren’t cut with such precision. The most common recipe seems to be the one with melted cheese, which is also included in this recipe but plays a supporting role. So I used this type of pasta, which is eaten in the Alps, in a recipe that I think it fits perfectly.
And so, even though I changed some of the ingredients, as I tasted the dish, I remembered exactly when I used to eat it; and that it was after school.
Traditional Alpine macaroni made from Swiss UrDinkel (heritage spelt) flour, with three fresh free-range eggs and spring water from the Arvigrat. Produced in Kerns, in the canton of Obwalden.
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TipPrep and cook time were measured at the original serving size — treat them as a starting point once you scale servings up or down.
Beef · Pasta · Main course · Slow-cooked
TipCheck off what you already have before you go shopping.
TipCheck off each step as you go and follow the recipe without losing your place.
Add the olive oil to a pot and, once hot, add the garlic; remove it once it's warmed through too.
Cut the beef into small pieces, if it isn't already cut.
Add the meat to the pot and sauté until it takes on some color.
Deglaze with the red wine and let it evaporate.
Once it's evaporated, add the salt, allspice, bay leaf, grated tomato, and tomato paste.
Stir, add 2 glasses of water, and simmer covered until the sauce thickens (about 2 hours).
Six minutes before the two hours are up, bring a pot of salted water to the boil.
Add the macaroni and boil for 6 minutes.
At the two-hour mark, remove the pot with the meat from the heat and take out the bay leaf.
Drain the macaroni and add them to the pot with the meat.
Serve with grated cheese.
