Ox cheek Genovese with cheese-stuffed Ligurian flatbread
- Prepare
- over 2 hours
- Cook
- over 2 hours
- Serve
- Serves 4
Italian slow-cooked ox cheek is perfect comfort food in any weather, with cheese-stuffed flatbread to mop up the juices.
Ingredients
For the ox cheek
- 2 ox cheeks (beef cheeks)
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, peeled and quartered
- 1 carrot, peeled and chopped into 4
- 2 celery sticks, chopped into 4
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 garlic bulb, halved
- 2 rosemary sprigs
- 400g tin tomatoes
- 250ml/9fl oz Italian red wine
- 500ml/18fl oz beef stock
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the flatbread
For the basil sauce
To serve
- 150g/5½oz fresh tagliatelle or pappardelle
- 1 cooked potato, peeled and diced
- 100g/3½oz cooked green beans, diced
Method
To make the ox cheek, season the meat with salt and black pepper all over. Place an ovenproof dish (for which you have a lid) over a high heat and add the oil. Once hot, add the seasoned cheek and brown all over.
Add the vegetables to the pan and sweat for 5–8 minutes. Add all the remaining ingredients except the stock and allow the wine to reduce by half. Add the stock, cover with the lid and simmer gently for around 2 hours, until the veg is soft.
Remove the meat and strain the sauce. Pour the sauce back into the pan and reduce again over a high heat until it reaches your desired consistency. Break the cheek up into rough chunks and put it back into the sauce. Keep warm.
Meanwhile, to make the flatbread, mix together the flour, salt and olive oil in a bowl along with 150ml/¼ pint water until it forms a dough (use a stand mixer with the hook attachment if you have one). Cover and set aside for a couple of hours.
Preheat the oven to 240C/220C Fan/Gas mark 9. Roll out two sheets of dough around 2mm thick, the size and shape of a dinner plate. Spread the cheese over one and top with the other. Pinch the edges together and prick all over with a fork.
Place onto a baking sheet, brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake for 15 minutes.
To make the basil sauce, pound all the ingredients (reserving half the basil for garnish) together in a pestle and mortar. Loosen with plenty of olive oil until it reaches a spoonable consistency.
To serve, boil the pasta until just cooked and add the potatoes and green beans to a separate pan to warm through at the end.
Drain the pasta and toss with the ox cheek and sauce. Add the warm potatoes and green beans and transfer into a serving bowl.
Spoon over the basil sauce and garnish with basil leaves and grated Parmesan. Serve the flatbread alongside.
