Ropa Vieja (Cuban Old Clothes Dish)
Ingredients
- 2 pounds beef flank steak or skirt steak, trimmed
- 1 large red onion thinly sliced
- 3 bell peppers thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
- 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1 cup chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
- 16 ounce canned crushed tomatoes 1 can
- 6 ounce tomato paste 1 can
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 large carrot cut in half
- 1 stalk celery cut in half
- 1 cup pimientos-stuffed green olives (or use green olives and 1/2 jarred pimientos separately)
- 1/2 cup roasted red peppers canned
- 2 tablespoons capers rinsed and drained
- 1/3 cup fresh parsley chopped
Instructions
- Pat the meat dry and season well with salt and pepper.
- Next, heat up some oil in a casserole dish over high flame and once well heated, add the meat in. Brown on both sides and transfer to a separate dish. Keep the melted fat as we'll use it to flavor to vegetables.
- Add all the sliced vegetables to the pot and cook, stirring often for about 20 minutes until beautifully browned and caramelized.
- Stir in the spices and minced garlic and mix for a minute, Next add the splash of white wine, bring to a boil and deglaze by scaring the browned bits off the bottom of the pan.
- Next, pour in the chicken broth (or vegetable broth), tomato paste, crushed tomatoes and bay leaves and leave to simmer for about 5 minutes.
- Place the roasted beef pieces in the pot together with the carrot and celery slices. Once the contents are boiling, lower the heat and simmer for about 3-4 hours until the meat pulls apart easily. Take out the carrots, celery and bay leaves and discard them.
- Take the beef out, shred it and introduce the capers, red peppers, olives and simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes to thicken the sauce.
- Once done, season with salt and pepper to taste, stir the meat back in and top with freshly chopped parsley.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!