Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Round Steak with Fetuccine


Giada DeLaurentis cooked a dish last week on Everyday Italian that really made me drool. It was called Beef Shortribs with Tailigatte. I penciled this in to prepare on Sunday.


There are a few of you who read this blog regularly that live in the Knoxville area. We have commented to each other what a pain grocery shopping is here. Often, it's difficult to get some basic items. Well, difficult is putting it mildly! I went to three grocery stores to try and find beef short ribs; I was told at all three stores that beef short ribs had to be special ordered! Is that crazy or what? There is a well known specialty market that I sent my husband to; I figured no problem, this places carries what you can't find elsewhere - WRONG! They don't carry beef short ribs either.

So what's a girl to do? Evidently the grocery powers that be have deemed beef short ribs illegal here or something. I was forced to do my thing. I am so glad I did. This was a fantastic meal bite after bite.


Round Steak with Fettuccine -

3 tablespoons olive oil
3 strips smokey bacon, cubed
2 lbs. bottom round steak cut into 3" x 4" pieces
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves
4 cloves garlic
1 (14-ounce) can tomatoes (whole or diced)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 crumbles, dried rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1teaspoon dried oregano
1 bay leaf
2 1/2 cups beef broth
3/4 cup red wine
1 lb. fettuccine
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiana-Reggiano


Place the olive oil in a large heavy stock pot over medium heat. Cook the bacon until golden and crisp.

Meanwhile, season the steak with salt and pepper, and dredge in the flour.

Use a slotted spoon, remove bacon from the pot and set aside.

Add steak to the pot and brown on both sides.

While the meat is browning, combine the onion, bell pepper, parsley and garlic in a food processor and blend until finely minced. Then add the tomatoes and tomato paste and pulse.

Once the steaks ribs are browned, carefully add the mixture from the food processor to the pot.

Return the bacon to the pot and stir. Add the rosemary, thyme, oregano, bay leaf, beef broth, and wine. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer for another hour and a half, stirring occasionally. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper, or to taste.


Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Add the pasta to the pot and stir to combine. Add the reserved pasta liquid 1/4 cup at a time, if needed, to moisten the pasta. Transfer to serving bowls, top each bowl with 1 teaspoon of Parmigiana-Reggiano. Serve immediately.


This is my entry for Presto Pasta Nights hosted by Pam at Sidewalk Shoes.


40 comments:

The Blonde Duck said...

I'm so glad you did this. I've got a ton of round steak in my freezer and had no idea what to do with it!

Steph said...

The pasta looks yummy! It's so frustrating when supermarkets don't always have what we need. We don't usually have that problem for food, but baking supplies and ingredients can be a pain to hunt down!

The Bramble Patch said...

Hey girl,

That looks so good! I can always find short ribs at Food City in Maryville. Let me know if you are looking for something special and I will look over here for you. Our FC meat guys are the best.

Miette said...

I love pasta. Yours sound so good !

Cheers,

Miette

JodieMo said...

That looks delicious! I cooked short ribs once, and my impression is that they look better than they taste, but of course I could have just done it wrong. Round Steak is a much better choice I think.

Susie said...

That's a great substitute to the orginial inspiration:-)

Maria said...

Great pasta dish!!

Debbie said...

Round steak is so vertatile. I know what you mean about finding things in your local grocery store. It was a culture shock to me years back when I came to Virgnia from NY but things have gotten better. We have a Wegman's that opened here recently that is fantastic. Your dish looks great and I love Giada!!

Netts Nook said...

Grocery shopping grunt groan. Last week I went to six stores just looking for some parsnips. Katherine your Fetuccine looks great.

Carrie said...

Stopping by form SIT's to say hello
I was in the Smokey Mountain's a week ago. I love it up there.
My Bro-in-law just moved to Knoxville. Yeah for him. I am a few hours away in GA.
I know what you mean about grocery shopping for "different items"
We have nothing here. I have to drive to ATL to get what I need. :(

~ Julie ~ said...

Looks delicious! Visiting from SITS...

Marjie said...

What I remember about food shopping in greater Knoxville is that I had a hard time finding fish other than catfish, which I cannot stand! This looks like a great adaptation of the recipe, and easy, too, which is a great plus.

Not Another Omnivore said...

I've never actually thought about labeling our situation tough or not...but I guess it actually is. I wanted to make a curry not too long ago and ended up all over the place and still only had 3/4 the spices I needed.

NAOmni

Greg C said...

Sundays are turning into Italian days at our house. Lately we have Italian dishes on Sundays. I love that food.

vanillasugarblog said...

My stars that looks and sounds so good. I love a "new" pasta dish. Wonderful!

Penny said...

Katherine - You are right about finding short ribs in the grocery store. The Ingles in Lake Lure and Asheville have them occasionally and I snap them up for the freezer. I prefer boneless short ribs which comes from a part of the chuck and melts in your mouth after cooking. Keep demanding them from the butcher and maybe they will come around. Your dish looks gread with your substitution.

pam said...

This looks great! Yep, I can't find short ribs here either. Thanks for entering! Look for the round up on my blog sometime Friday afternoon!

Jen @ tatertotsandjello.com said...

Hi Katherine! Don;t you love Food Network? I think it is my favorite channel! That dish looks wonderful. I have that same problem of finding some ingredients where I live. It drives me crazy!

Thanks for stopping by and saying hi! I am excited to get to know you!!

Jen

Jennifer said...

Wow no short ribs at your stores, crazy! But it looks like your version turned out beautifully and less fat I bet those short ribs are soo fatty! Good job

Anonymous said...

Delicious pasta! Yum!

Little Birdie Secrets said...

YUMMY! Congrats on being saucy over at SITS.

Brandie said...

Maybe one day we will post pictures like you did :) I just organized it last night with the labels..:) since I have my other blog..:) but I thought since I had seen a few other cook blogs I would add mine/sweeties :)

Lucy..♥ said...

I just love the flavors going here!! YUM! Can't say I have a problem getting whatever, hope things change in your area.. ;-)

Gladys said...

I can't eat pork so if I have ribs they have to be beef. I have always had luck at Costco and Sams. You just have to buy 3000 lbs of them. Which for us is dinner and lunch. :)

tamilyn said...

I have to laugh about not being able to find short ribs. We live about 30 minutes from the metro area and we still don't have stores stocked with a lot of different ingredients (farm area here). We can't get round steak in our local (big chain) grocery store. Round steak? I can see not having duck livers, or a lot of veal, but round steak? Our saving grace is a locally owned butcher store. I pay more, but the quality is so worth it. I'll have to go grab a round steak and try this out!

Mary Bergfeld said...

I've made this dish with a few mods. Like all Giadas recipes this is very nice. I love your pictures.

Paula said...

Mmmm, mmmm, mmmm! I ate something similar when I was growing up! I love what you've done here. It's a great dish all the more so because round steak is easily found! It's pretty, too! YUM! Now I want this for dinner instead of corned beef! :-)

Anonymous said...

I love that you changed her dish up!

;)amy

Aggie said...

I don't think I would find short ribs either. This pasta looks fantastic Katherine, what a great way to substitute!!

misti said...

I feel ya on the grocery shoppin' blues. I lived in downtown Houston and got used to a PLETHORA of grocery stores...local and chain...got used to getting any ingredient I could dream up. Now I'm in a small town with a couple of homely little grocery stores and a Wal-Mart. :) I miss the variety!

That recipe looks awesome.

Reeni said...

Don't you hate that? I see a lot of great ingredients that I can't find here either. But this looks over-the-top!! This going on my list to make. YUMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!

MaryBeth said...

That looks so good...nice, warm and cozy....great job

Tami (Pixeltrash) said...

I had to order them here too. Sounds like a yummy dish your way too!

Anonymous said...

looks great! I don't think I'd be able to easily find short ribs here either.

Donnetta said...

YUM, YUM, YUM!!!! Now, if I could just find someone to cook it for me! :)

Congrat on being Saucy!

Coleens Recipes said...

This recipe sounds excellent. I'm very thankful for the food processor step (maybe if my picky husband doesn't SEE the bell pepper he won't object)

La Bella Cooks said...

I've made the original and I can see where you can easily get away with using something other than short ribs, so I am glad it worked out for you. If you can get stew meat, then try that and cook it down as you would short ribs. Yours looks like it turned out beautifully. I would love this dish.

Peter M said...

It's nice to see a recipe use an ingredient that's not as popular, like round steak. I'm intrigued as this does look delish.

Elyse said...

I'm sorry you couldn't get your hands on the short ribs--that's crazy, but looks like you made out just fine with the round steak. I mean, this dish looks totally delish! I'm saving this recipe for sure; it looks like such a great comforting meal.

Joanne said...

Sometimes you've just gotta make do with what you have and, quite frankly, I would probably use steak instead of short-ribs as well!