Friday, February 9, 2007

Brodo di Manzo with Tortellini and Greens – Shank you very much!

The soul of this dish is an incredibly rich, and deeply flavored, beef broth or “brodo.” This is accomplished by slowly simmering a beef shank for a long time, a really long time - like 4 hours, so if you’re in a hurry, this dish is not for you. But, if you want to enjoy a bowl of something that will warm you to the bone (or shank) then give this extremely simple soup a try.

As you’ll see in the clip the first part of the dish is making the dark and delicious beef broth, after that we add some tortellini and kale to finish. That’s the point where you can swerve in your own direction by adding different types of pasta or greens. This would be just as savory with Swiss chard, mustard greens, etc. As far as pasta substitutions, if you’re not into the cheese tortellini I added, then virtually any other short pasta or macaroni will work.

When I look at the ingredient list I find it hard to believe how such a short and simple list can produce something this satisfying and wonderful. Those “winter blues” will never know what hit them!

Ingredients:
1 beef shank (about 2 inch thick)
1 onion
3 cloves garlic
olive oil
3 tbl tomato paste
1 quart beef broth plus 1 quart water
1 bunch kale
8 oz dried cheese tortellini
salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes to taste
parmesan cheese to garnish

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

brodo di manzo in italian means "beef broth" and it is a very simple food.
what it is represented in the video is a sort of very tasty and ingredients rich soup and I am sure it is very good. But don't call it "brodo di manzo" if it is not. Here one version of a more traditional recepe to make a healthy meat broth in italian: http://www.alfemminile.com/w/ricetta/r530/brodo-di-manzo.html

Chef John said...

Thanks for the comment BUT,

I didnt call it "brodo di manzo!"

I called it "Brodo di Manzo WITH Tortellini and Greens" which is exactly what it was.

If you remove the other ingredients you have "brodo di manzo" but if you add Tortellini and Greens then you get what I call "Brodo di Manzo with Tortellini and Greens" See how that works.

Btw, the best thing about having a food blog is calling your recipes anything you want. The Peruvians went NUTS when i added mango to a ceviche and called it ceviche with mango.

In fact next week I think I'll make Bolognese sauce with Spam! hehehe.

Anonymous said...

Argh!!!!!! Please, don't make that Bolognese sause with spam! It's like making a hamburger with peanut butter on it instead of ketchup!
Or,you could call it in another way (but do not choose the words "brodo di manzo" again, eh! )


p.s. I liked your answer,you are a funny guy! :)

Chef John said...

I was kidding! But, I'm not changing the name.
Since it is "Brodo di Manzo WITH Tortellini and Greens" I think thats a great name. Why dont you go start your own blog and call American dishes by the wrong names to get back at me. Like "Sloppy Joes" could be called "Sloppy Herberts"

BTW, I think your are also funny, but more like "funny"

Thanks for watching.

Anonymous said...

Hi Chef! I'm looking for your other tortellini in brodo recipe -- where is it?? The one with the mushrooms and tomatoes in the chicken stock broth. Can't find it, help! Thanks in advance.

Anonymous said...

Hi again, I'm still looking for your other tortellini in brodo recipe. Remember? Zucchini, little tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic... I just don't remember the proportions.

Chef John said...

sorry! I thought I posted the URL of where to see it. This file was from my old blog and the original source files got messed up. I never transfered it over to this blog because of the very poor A/V quality. But you can still follow the recipe if you go to this URL:
http://lrn2cook.com/tortveg.wmv
enjoy!

Anonymous said...

Would you please re-do this on your higher quality equipment? Thanks.

Paul D said...

I wish sometimes that I was not a vegetarian - anchovies don't count.

Unknown said...

Hey CJ, I have a cold and tried this recipe, wine to whole foods on franklin, and, new years day, no beef stock, had to buy bison stock. I remember you teasing about how you had to use beef stock because of course they did not have lamb/bison/or what ever stock. But, this was the first time a came across the reverse.

Thought it was funny, wanted to share!
paul

James said...

Over the years, this has become one my favorite recipes; however, I went Low Carb 16 months ago (Diabetes) but my family still loves this. I can eat the beef and broth and my family can eat the rest. The only change I've made is using an Instant Pot to make it. Browning the meat and sauteing the veggies take about 15 min. and pressure cooking take about an hour. Add the Kale and Tortellini and pressure cooking for another 5 minutes yields the same result.