Pot-Roast Hunter’s Catch, Arrosto Misto

Make this easy Italian tomato sauce, perfect for pasta, chicken, fish and eggs.

Pot-Roast Hunter’s Catch
Arrosto Misto

This Italian Pot Roast Hunter’s Catch, called Arrosto Misto is one of those old Italian recipes that would once have been cooked in a cauldron above a fire. We still possess Giancarlo’s grandmother’s cauldron that used to be suspended on a tripod at different heights to vary the cooking times. It’s a meal in one: celery and carrots constitute the vegetable component, the meat is your protein and the potatoes your carbohydrates. Most lean cuts of meat will work in this recipe and you don’t have to use a mixture, chicken alone, for example, would work perfectly well. Do brown the meat very well, a very dark appearance will ensure a good flavour to the dish. Traditionally the dish uses pieces of pork fat, or lardo di colonnata, which melt down during cooking. If you can buy lardo in your local deli, it will impart a rich flavour and keep the meat moist but if you cannot get it, butter or olive oil also works well.

Serves 6

100ml extra-virgin olive oil

250g butter or half lardo, cut into 3cm pieces, and half butter

1.5 kg meat (e.g. 1 rabbit or chicken jointed into 8, 2 duck legs and 400g pork loin, quartered) or 8 large chicken thighs

2 celery stalks, cut into 2cm long pieces

2 large carrots, cut into 2.5cm thick pieces

1 large white or red onion, cut into eighths

4 garlic cloves, unpeeled and lightly crushed with the flat of a knife

2 sprigs rosemary, branch included, broken into small pieces

5 bay leaves

100ml white wine

200–300ml chicken stock

2 large potatoes, peeled and quartered

Heat the oil, butter and lardo (if using) together in a large saucepan over a medium heat. When hot, add all the different meats together and fry for about 30 minutes or until well browned, turning the joints only once during the cooking time.

Next add the celery, carrots, onion, garlic, rosemary and bay leaves and fry until golden. Pour in the wine and enough stock to almost cover the meat. Put the lid on askew to allow some steam to escape, and simmer for about 11/2 hours until the liquid has almost disappeared. Halfway through the cooking time add the potato.

The liquid should reduce down to a sticky consistency, and the meat and potatoes should be well cooked and browned all over. If the liquid disappears before the meat is cooked add extra stock; conversely if there is too much liquid when the meat is cooked, remove the lid and boil hard to reduce the amount.