Swide will take you on a gustative journey of Italy’s regions through their typical food and dishes, one recipe at a time thanks to La Cucina Italiana.

Trentino Alto Adige is an autonomous Region of Northern Italy. The region, formerly part of Austria-Hungary and once among the poorer areas, it is now one of the wealthiest of Italy.  The region is bordered by Tyrol (Austria) to the north-east and north, by Switzerland to the north-west, and by the Italian regions of Lombardy to the west and Veneto to the south and south-east.

Trentino Alto Adige features the most striking feature, the Dolomites, a designated Unesco World Heritage Site.  This Region hosts amazing monuments that mix the Gothic from Austria with the beauty of the one of Italian Renaissance. Start in Trento, with a Lombard Romanesque cathedral and the Castle.

Stop in Bolzano, too, or Rovereto (visit the MART Museum) or Riva del Garda but don’t miss the sanctuaries in the area as well, like Montagnaga di Pinè and Madonna del Monte di Rovereto. 
Also visit the Castles of Tirolo, Roncolo and Appiano. Finally, take a moment at Beseno Castle so that you can admire the breathtaking views.

Leaving the beauty of the landscape aside, there is another reason to go to Trentino Alto Adige: the cuisine.

Inspired to the North-Eastern Europe, it is rich in flavors but features simple ingredients like potatoes, green cabbage, flour, and stale bread, for examples canederli, pieces of bread filled with speck or cheese and cooked in broth, a peasant dish.

Ricotta cheese gnocchi are made using the cheese instead of the potatoes and usually seasoned very simply, with tomatoes or butter and sage.

Potatoes and green cabbage is also a great dish served in Trentino Alto Adige, made by boiling both the cabbage and the potatoes or made by sautéing the ingredients.

Strangolapreti (literally “strangling priests”) is a special kind of pasta made with stale bread, spinaches, eggs, onions, butter, milk sage, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Spatzle too are another great primi – but are often served as a side dish, too, with game –and are gnocchi made of  soft wheat, eggs and water. Sometimes water is substituted by beer.

Polenta (cornmeal mush) is another very common dish in this area, as well as barley soup. Potatoes and sourkraut are also delicious, with fried potatoes and the boiled sourkraut. If you are wondering if desserts are delicious too, the answer is yes: apple fritters is just one example.

What’s missing? A secondi! Here is a recipe for braised beef in Teroldego wine, a wine typical of Alto Adige. The step by step recipe is from La Cucina Italiana, the most renowned Italian cuisine magazine.

Beef braised in red wine

TOTAL TIME: 3 hours, 40 minutes

MAKES: 6 servings

Teroldego rotaliano is a fairly unknown grape outside of north Trentino, a northern Italian region better known for pinot grigio. If you can’t find teroldego, use chianti classico instead.

Ingredients:

1 (3- to 3 1/2- pound) boneless beef chuck roast

1 teaspoon anise seeds

4 juniper berries (optional)

1 bay leaf

2 cups red wine, preferably teroldego rotaliano

Salt

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

3 ounces guanciale or pancetta, cubed

1 medium onion, finely chopped

1 medium carrot, finely chopped

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

4 cups vegetable broth

1/2cup water

1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste, preferably double concentrated

Instructions:

Place meat, anise seeds, juniper berries and bay leaf in a large bowl; pour wine over the top. Marinate, refrigerated, turning occasionally, for at least 1 hour or overnight.

Remove meat from marinade; pat dry and season with salt and pepper. Dust with flour. Strain marinade into a bowl through a fine mesh sieve; discard solids.

Heat oil in a wide 4- to 5-quart pot over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Brown meat on all sides, about 10 minutes total, reducing heat if necessary to prevent scorching. Transfer meat to a plate and drain excess oil from pot.

Return pot to medium-high heat. Add guanciale, onion, carrot and celery. Cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are softened and golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add reserved marinade, bring to a boil and cook until reduced by about half, about 5 minutes. Stir in vegetable broth, water and tomato paste. Bring to a simmer, then return meat and any accumulated juices to pot. Reduce heat to low and cook, covered, until meat is very tender, about 3 hours.

Transfer meat to a cutting board, cover with foil and let rest for 15 minutes, then cut across the grain into

1/2-inch pieces. Purée half of sauce, then return to pot. Return meat to sauce. Gently reheat before serving.

Note: Beef improves in flavor if made 3 days ahead. Cool completely in sauce, uncovered, then chill in sauce, covered. Reheat, covered, in a preheated 350° oven until hot, 25 to 30 minutes, then slice meat.

Cover image and recipe by: La Cucina Italiana