Piedmontese spezzatino with stuffed squash

Spezzatino is a style of Italian beef stew cooked throughout Italy, particularly in the colder months. There are many variations, but this is a version taught to me by a friend from Turin. It's cooking method is a bit more complex that many other one-pot versions.

Amore tricolore

This Piedmontese spezzatino with stuffed squash is an ideal autumnal warmer. Back in Edinburgh for Halloween (and my birthday), I was knocking about thinking what to cook when I spied a great deal on Scottish beef and it's exactly what came to mind.

It proved the perfect choice for an autumnal Scottish Sunday. It's a long time since I cooked it. I imagine one of the reasons is that I am a great fan of one-pot dishes and this isn't one of them. However, it's not a difficult recipe. The first part of the dish involves creating the tricolore— a bit like an Italian version of mirepoix—and then adding the beef at a later point.

My friend from Turin told me that it was a traditional family recipe, originating in the wine-growing region around La Morra where her grrandmother grew up. She called it "spezzatino tircolore"—it will become clear why—but wasn't sure if that was an actual "thing" or merely a family nickname for this delicious dish.

Unlike most spezzatini, which feature heavier vegetables such as potatoes and carrots and are served with bread, her family version was usually served with rice as a carb. I'm opting for a smoky mix of rice and grains, but it's also great with plain boiled rice, braised arborio rice or a mix of white and black rice.

Another unusual aspect of the dish is that it uses both white and red wine, something Giuseppina said was not negotiable. I've never dared to ignore her instructions on this one.

Squashing it all in

I'm serving it with stuffed squash, a delicious seasonal veggie that's high in fibre. Though a side dish here, it also makes a great vegetarian lunch or light supper in its own right.

I prefer to use smaller squashes with firm yellow flesh for this one such as gem squash or acorn square. But you can also make it with larger varieties and cut into relevant portions.

You can use top quality parmesan or grana padano if you want, but I generally don't (unless making it as a main meal) because the very finely grated cheap 'n cheerful stuff produces a nice crispy crust.

The "stuffing" in these quantities will produce more than you need for squash for two or three people—but who wants to slice half a leek? Save the leftovers in the fridge and use in an omelette within a couple of days; delicious.

This dish feeds 2 to 3 diners. You do the maths to make it otherwise. NB: the images here are in slightly different portions.

Shopping list

for the Piedmontese spezzatino

• 500g lean beef, cut into fairly large pieces

• 7 or 8 echalion shallots, sliced

• 1 or 2 pointed red sweet peppers; sliced

• 3 or 4 sticks of celery, sliced

• 5 cloves of garlic; 3 very finely chopped or grated, 2 sliced

• 1 400g tin of peeled plum tomatoes in their juice

• 2 tbspns tomato purée

• 1 beef or vegetable stock cube

• 500ml dry white wine

• 300ml red wine

• A large clutch of fresh basil

• Approx. 8 tbspns olive oil

• 1 tspn oregano

• 2 bay leaves

• 1 tbspn dark brown sugar (if needed)

• salt and pepper to taste

for the stuffed squash

• ½ a squash of choice per diner

• 1 leek, sliced

• Approx. 150g mushrooms, cut into pieces

• 2 tbspns butter

• Approx 4 tbspns parmesan cheese, very finely grated

• 2 tspns dried mixed herbs (e.g. oregano, basil, thyme marjoram )

• salt and pepper to taste

to accompany

• rice (mixes) or rustic bread of choice

Cooking Method

for the Piedmontese spezzatino

1. Heat half of the olive oil in a large frying pan on a medium to high heat. Add the grated garlic and sizzle. When it turns golden, add the shallots and sauté

2. When the shallots soften slightly, add the red sweet pepper and cook together. As soon as the red pepper softens slightly, add the celery and whole basil leaves— season with a little pepper, reduce to a fairly low heat and gently sauté your tricolore

3. Add the white wine, approx. half a glass at a time and cook off, stirring almost constantly, until 250ml of the white wine has been used. When the tricolore is suitably softened, decant to a larger pot with a lid

4. Heat the larger pot on a fairly high heat, adding the plum tomatoes and their juice, stirring in. Add the remainder of the white wine and cook the contents in it

5. While these contents bubble, add the tomato purée and stock cube to the tomato tin. Dissolve these in boiling water then add to the pot, also adding a few additional basil leaves, the oregano and bay leaves. Turn up the heat and boil this rather liquid mixture vigorously for about six or seven mins. Then cover, turn down the heat and simmer for a further 15mins

6. At the same time, add a generous amount of olive oil (at least 4 tbspns) to the unwashed pan in which you cooked the tricolore. Add the sliced garlic and sizzle on a medium-to-high heat for a few minutes. Add your beef pieces, turning almost constantly so that the beef seals on all sides. As soon as the beef fully sealed, start adding the red wine, about a quarter of a glass at a time. Add additional basil leaves and cook these in too. When all the red wine has been cooked in, remove from the heat and allow the beed to rest in the juices

7. After the tomatoes and tricolore mixture has been simmering for at least 15 mins—look for signs of the tomatoes changing to a "cooked" state—gently add the beef and all of the juices from the pan. Stir all of the ingredients together. Reduce to a very low heat—so the contents of the pot are barely bubbling. Cover and cook for at least two hours, stirring every 15mins or so to prevent sticking

8. After about two hours, remove the lid and gently simmer the stew so that any remaining liquid begins to cook off, stirring more frequently as the sauce thickens and the risk of sticking increases. If you need to—to date I've never needed to do so—use a little dark brown sugar, one teaspoon at a time, to reduce the sauce. Once the texture is rich and optimal, remove from the heat and rest before serving

for the stuffed squash

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a vigorous boil. Cut your squash in half, add to the boiling water. Cook for 10 to 15mins depending on the type and size of squash. Drain and cool. You can do this some time before; even the day before

2. In a large frying pan, melt the butter on a medium heat. When it begins to bubble, add the leek and sauté. Once the leek softens, add the mushrooms and stir together, adding the dried mixed herbs. When cooked—better still, slightly undercooked—remove from the heat and allow to rest

3. Scoop the sinews and pips out of the cooled squash. Sprinkle a little parmesan into the cavity. Gently fill with the leek and mushroom stuffing, sprinkling a little more parmesan between layers. Finally, sprinkle the remaining parmesan over the top of the squash

4. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200°C for 20 to 25mins; basically until the parmesan on the top forms a golden crust. Turn off the heat and allow to rest before serving

5. Take the baked squash, spezzatino and rice to table

Alternatives

I have cooked delicious vegetarian (actually vegan) versions of this spezzatino with smoked tofu and celeriac. But, you need to adjust the cooking method quite a lot. Prepare the tofu pieces and chunks of celeriac much as you do with the beef above, cooking in the red wine and resting. But, do not add them to the tricolore and tomato mix until it has simmered for almost 1.5 hours. If you add the celeriac and tofu earlier than the last 30mins of the cooking, they will become too "soggy".

As mentioned above, the stuffed squash makes a delicious meal in its own right. It's readily turned veggie by using vegetarian "parmesan" (yes, versions exist) and you can make vegan versions using plant-based "cheese". From what I can see, most of these "cheeses" behave more like mozzarella than parmesan. But, that's not necessarily a problem. Indeed, if you're not a veggie or vegan but you prefer your stuffed squash more "melty cheesy", use cheddar or mozzarella instead of parmesan.

Pairings

I remember once having this dish with a great Sangiovese, but I can't remember for the life of me which one. Most of the time I've had it with workday reds that suit its paesan roots. On this little sojourn to Scotland, it worked very well with a bottle of Araldica Barbera D'Asti Superiore from a local supermarket chain.

As always, we await the wisdom of Karel.