Ingredients for 4 people:
For the veal cheeks:
4 veal cheeks
2 carrots2 onions
1 stick of white celery
½ a leek
70 g tomato puree
750 ml Santa Maddalena/St. Magdalener red wine
500 ml stock or brown veal broth
2 bay leaves
6-7 black peppercorns
2 tsp starch
Salt and pepper
For the mushroom “gröstl”:
8 medium Val Pusteria/Pustertal new potatoes in their skins
4 shallots
2 cloves of garlic
Roughly 200 g fresh mushrooms
2 sprigs of leaf parsley
A bit of thyme
Remove the tendons and trimmings from the veal cheeks. Brown the cheeks seasoned with salt in a hot pan on both sides, now add the diced root vegetables with the onions to the pan and brown. Add the tomato puree, brown slightly, add the Santa Maddalena/St. Magdalener and let it reduce to half. Add the brown veal broth and spices and put everything in a pot with lid into the oven preheated to approx. 165 °C and slowly cook it for about half an hour. Every now and again pour sauce over the meat. Take the cheeks out of the sauce, thicken it using the starch (dissolved in water), bring the whole thing to the boil and then pour it through a fine sieve.
Wash the potatoes and boil in their skins in salted water for approx. 25 to 35 minutes. Leave them to cool and place in the fridge for 20 minutes. Then peel the potatoes and cut into slices, fry in fat afterwards until they are light brown. Fry the cleaned and sliced mushrooms in another pan, add the diced shallots, chopped garlic and parsley. Now add the fried mushrooms and sprig of thyme to the browned potatoes, toss and season with salt. No place the veal cheeks on a plate, pour the pureed sauce over it and arrange the mushroom “gröstl” next to them. Decorate with a bit of thyme and my favourite dish and a classic among South Tyrolean specialities is ready to eat.
Willi wishes you good luck!