Honey-glazed beef in tomato sauce that melts in your mouth

Everyone’s favorite dish, melt-in-your-mouth beef kokkinisto, brings back childhood memories of the family gathered around the table, especially on Sundays. We enjoy it with fries, mashed potatoes, rice or pasta. This recipe is easy and always turns out perfectly! All you need is good meat, tasty tomatoes and lots of love!

Ingredients

For the beef kokkinisto
1,200 g beef
3-4 garlic cloves
Salt
Pepper
4-5 tbsp olive oil
1 large yellow onion, finely chopped
2 carrots
1 celery stalk
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 packs whole peeled pomodori tomatoes
1 cup dry white wine
A little hot water (or chicken stock)
1 bay leaf
Allspice
Cloves
Cinnamon

To serve

1 pack thick macaroni
Plenty of finely grated kefalotyri


Pat the beef very dry with paper towels so there’s no moisture on it.

Finely chop the garlic on your work surface with a knife, or cut the cloves into small pieces, then add plenty of salt and pepper.

Mix the garlic with the salt and pepper.

Pierce the meat in several places with a sharp knife and push the garlic and salt and pepper into the meat with your finger.

Tie the meat to help it keep its shape.

Add olive oil to a large pot and, over high heat, brown the meat very well all over for about 7-8 minutes, until a crust forms.

Transfer it to a platter and keep it covered for a little while. max

Lower the heat, add the finely chopped vegetables and sauté for 4-5 minutes, stirring.

You can finely chop all the vegetables in a blender using short pulses, but don’t purée them. We want 3-4 mm pieces, like a brunoise.

Add the tomato paste and rub it into the bottom of the pot.

Deglaze with the wine. Let the wine almost completely evaporate and the pot dry out.

Return the meat, along with all its juices, from the platter to the sauce.

Crush the whole peeled pomodori tomatoes by hand in a bowl and add them to the pot.

Bring to a boil.

Lower the heat and add a little hot water or stock, about 2 cups.

Add the bay leaf and allspice.

Cover the pot and simmer over low heat until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened, about 2 hours.

Cooking time always depends on how tender the meat is.

Beef can also be cooked in a pressure cooker, reducing the cooking time.

Once the meat is tender, cut it into smaller pieces and leave it in its sauce to simmer for another 10 -15′ minutes and soak up the sauce.

This is the time to flavor the dish with a little clove and cinnamon.

I tie 2-3 cloves and 1 small piece of cinnamon stick in a cheesecloth, then add it to the pot for a little while toward the end.

I leave them in for a few minutes, then remove them, so everyone is left wondering whether or not the beef contains spices.

Add salt and pepper toward the end of cooking.
For the pasta

Cook the thick pasta once the meat is done.

Drain them very well, as water collects inside the holes.

Put them in a bowl and drizzle with a little of the roast beef gravy.

Toss them until they’re coated in the sauce.

Place them on a large platter, top with the braised beef, and pour over the rich sauce.

Serve immediately with plenty of kefalotyri cheese.

Secrets to the best Greek-style braised beef

How do I make the most delicious Greek-style braised beef?
How do I make the meat tender enough to melt in your mouth?
How do I make a wonderful tomato sauce for braised beef?

These are the questions you ask me most often, and here I’m sharing all the secrets to making the most delicious Greek-style braised beef in tomato sauce for your dinner table. Follow my instructions carefully, and you can be sure everyone will be raving about your technique and cooking.
Proper searing, the biggest secret
Let the meat come to room temperature before cooking it. Nothing is worse than putting a cold piece of meat into a hot pot to brown. The oil temperature will drop immediately and, instead of browning and caramelizing on the outside, the meat will start to boil and your pot will fill with liquid. Instead of browning, it will simply take on the color of boiled meat, and you’ll lose half its flavor. Meanwhile, the meat dries out, and no matter how long you boil it, it will be dry inside.
Dry the meat very well before putting it in the pot to brown.
Use a heavy-based, wide, shallow pot to sear the meat, over high heat with a little olive oil. This will give the meat a lovely golden-brown color on all sides and make the dish really delicious.
You need to sear the pieces of meat in small batches, because if you put too many in the pot, the oil temperature will drop instead of the meat browning and forming a crust. The meat will start releasing its juices, and instead of searing properly with a nice crust, it will start to boil.
Searing the meat all over creates a beautiful browned crust that seals in all the juices as it cooks. Fifty percent of the flavor of beef in tomato sauce comes from browning it properly.
Deglazing: the technique that concentrates all the aromas and enhances the flavor of beef in tomato sauce
Whenever we sear the meat all over for beef in tomato sauce, the high heat causes the meat juices to solidify at the bottom of the pot. You can see the caramelized meat juices crystallizing on the bottom.
Then, deglaze the meat with wine or beef stock, scraping the bottom of the pot. This loosens the browned meat juices and brings together the aromas of the wine and the rich flavor of the meat. This makes your beef in tomato sauce even more delicious.

What trio of ingredients will make your dish unforgettable?

Finely diced onion, carrot, and celery sautéed with the meat will give your beef in tomato sauce a wonderful flavor and aroma. Don’t leave them out if you want everyone to rave about how delicious your dish is.
Sautéing a little tomato paste for your beef in tomato sauce will deepen its flavor and make your dish smell of summer. Tomato paste generally adds extra flavor to this dish and beautifully enriches and thickens the sauce.

How can I make the meat in my beef in tomato sauce really tender and juicy?

Follow all the steps above, and be patient and respectful of your ingredients. Cook the meat over low heat for about 2 hours, so the connective tissue softens and the meat becomes tender and melts in your mouth. It’s essential to simmer the beef in tomato sauce covered, so the sauce doesn’t evaporate and the meat becomes tender and succulent.
Which cut of meat is ideal for beef in tomato sauce?
Ideally, use shoulder, as it is rich in intramuscular fat, which will baste and moisten the meat as it cooks. The result will be an especially soft and tender dish.
What is the ideal accompaniment for beef in tomato sauce?
Here I’ll tell you that, when it comes to taste… pasta, rice, mashed potatoes, mashed eggplant, hilopites, and whatever else you like are entirely a matter of personal choice.