Italian Meat Broth (Brodo di Carne)

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Homemade Italian meat broth (Brodo di Carne) is a magical substance. It’s delicious, comforting, soul-satisfying, and adored by children and grown-ups alike. While it simmers on the stove, its heavenly smell permeates your whole house. When you are low, you feel better after just one sip. Happily, it’s easy to prepare. Once you learn how to whip up a broth, a whole world of scrumptious Italian dishes will be available to you. Today, I share an unfussy, home-style Italian meat broth recipe. It can be cooked either for three hours in a normal pot or for one hour in a pressure cooker. In addition to the recipe, we will look at some of the traditional ways to use both the broth and the meat that’s left over. We have yummy things to talk about!

Italian Meat Broth (Brodo di Carne)

I have been making a lot of broth lately. My whole family loves it, it’s tremendously versatile, and so needed in this cold, damp, wintry weather. Also, with all of this quarantine/Covid-19 business, we have needed the sense of well-being it provides. I’ve had an equal amount of fun doing different things with the broth as I have with the leftover meat. A batch of broth will provide many meals! For special occasions like Christmas, I make broth in a large stockpot and cook it for 3-3 1/2 hours. For everyday cooking, I have been using a pressure cooker which makes it something that you can do on a weeknight. That is simply brilliant. As a consequence, I’ve been making it about 2-3 times a month all winter long.

Simplicity at its best…

Italian meat broth is a simple affair. Unlike French brown or white stocks, roasted stock, broths, or demi-glaces, Italian broths are pure and unassuming. They are lighter in flavor and unpretentious. The Italian aesthetic is for simplicity and letting good ingredients shine.

When you make an Italian-style broth, try to resist the urge to add a ton of things to add more oomph. It isn’t about that. Keep it simple. For the most basic brodo di carne, you will use 3-4 kinds of meat, onion, carrot, celery, and a pinch of salt. That’s it. This is what I use for my Tortellini in Brodo, where the meat filling is so complex and highly seasoned that no other aromatics are needed. (This advice comes from my Bolognese butcher.) If you are not doing that specific dish, a tomato and a sprig of parsley are very common additions to a broth. I use them often. Otherwise, you might see on occasion: bay leaf, thyme, garlic, peppercorns, nutmeg, or clove. One recipe I saw even included cinnamon. However, as I said, simpler is better and more common.

One thing that surprised me upon moving to Bologna was the abundant use of mixed meat broth vs. chicken broth. I would say that chicken broth is the most common in the US. Here, I find vegetable and meat broths are the norm.

Cuts of meat

For this broth, I generally use 3-4 kinds of meat plus an optional veal bone. Generally, I use about a 1/4 of a hen/stewing chicken (the thigh and leg is a good choice), 1 piece of beef with a bone such as a meaty rib, and another cut of beef like chuck, brisket, shin, marrow, cheek, or shank. You want to use tougher cuts of meat that require long cooking times. Some use beef tongue for an extra rich flavor. In Bologna, the local names for the cuts of beef that I generally use are gommosa and doppione. (In standard Italian, they are called muscolo and biancostato respectively.) The meat, at least in my house, is always used in other dishes after the broth is made. More on that later.

Note, if I am making Tortellini in Brodo for Christmas, I switch out the chicken for capon. I use approximately a 1/4 of a capon and it lends a glorious flavor that is very special. This will be difficult for most of you to find but I did want to mention it. For Christmas, I boil the broth for 3 hours in a regular stockpot vs. using my pressure cooker. It is a holiday after all!

Broth basics

My broth recipe is super easy and unfussy. I don’t do anything complicated or fancy. In fact, when my husband shopped this morning for another batch of broth ingredients, the butcher was stupefied to hear that I was writing up a recipe! In his opinion, the most important thing about meat broth is to use a wide variety of meats for the best flavor.

To prepare a broth, just put everything into a large stockpot and cover it with cold water. Don’t start with hot water. Bring it to a simmer. Be careful not to let it boil vigorously or it will become cloudy. Once the water comes to a simmer, turn the heat down and keep it at a low bubble for about 3 hours. If you are not using a pressure cooker, you will need to skim off the scum that rises to the top at the beginning of the process as the water comes up to heat. Once it’s done you strain it and adjust the seasoning.

I love my pressure cooker…

If you do your Italian meat broth in a pressure cooker, throw everything into the pot, put the cover on, let it come to pressure, and cook for an hour. No skimming, no work, and lots of good smells. I love it and the results are fabulous. Please note that you need less water in a pressure cooker than in a stockpot as the broth does not reduce as much under pressure.

Tips

You can freeze your broth for up to 3 months or keep it in the fridge for 3 days. If you want to store it longer in the fridge after 3 days, bring it up to a boil again, cool it down and you should be able to keep it safe for another day or two.

It’s common in the US to skim off all of the fat. When I am making fat-heavy Bolognese dishes that require a rich broth, I don’t take any of the fat out! After all, one of Bologna’s nicknames is La Grassa meaning “The Fat!” The choice is yours.

What to prepare with your Italian Meat Broth

Now to the fun! What Italian recipes can you prepare with this delicious elixir of goodness? Well, here’s a big list of dishes to think about, and this just scratches the surface! There are so many craveable and phenomenal regional recipes that have broth as the star. These are dishes to prepare with homemade broth rather than canned. I’m not talking about soups or risottos with broth in them but dishes where one of the main components is a rich and beautiful meat broth. Some recipes are as easy as throwing some pasta in the broth and topping with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and others are very labor-intensive. Cooks of every level should be able to find something appealing. I’ve broken things down into sections of easy, intermediate, and advanced to help.

The following is a list of the names of the dishes in Italian, a quick description in English, and the region of origin if I know. Even though many of you won’t speak Italian, I am listing the recipes with their Italian names because you can easily search online for recipes for any of these dishes. Are you ready? Here we go:

Easy:

• Stracciatella alla Romana – broth with shreds of beaten egg, Parmigiano-Reggiano, & often nutmeg (Lazio)
• Tagliolini in Brodo – broth with tagliolini pasta, topped with Parmigiano-Reggiano (Various regions)
• Riso in Brodo – a basic version has broth with rice, Parmigiano-Reggiano, & parsley (Friuli-Venezia Giulia and others)
• Garganelli in Brodo – garganelli pasta in broth, topped with Parmigiano-Reggiano (Emilia-Romagna)
• Pastina in Brodo – broth with tiny pasta shapes such as stars, topped with cheese (All regions)
• Sorpresine in Brodo – sorpresine pasta in broth, topped with Parmigiano-Reggiano (Emilia-Romagna)
• Zuppa alla Pavese – broth with stale bread pan-toasted in butter, topped with a raw egg that poaches in the hot broth, either Grana Padano or Parmigiano-Reggiano, and more bread (Lombardy)
• Minestra Friulana di Uova Filate – broth with an egg mixture of flour, cheese, nutmeg, salt, & pepper that is placed in a piping bag and streamed into the soup, then topped with cheese when fully cooked (Friuli-Venezia Giulia)
• Zuppa di Grissini – broth with grissini, butter and Parmigiano-Reggiano (Piedmont)

Intermediate:

• Passatelli in Brodo – a mixture of bread crumbs, Parmigiano-Reggiano, egg, fresh nutmeg, salt, and often flour, and lemon zest formed into a compact dough and pressed through holes to form a “pasta” that is cooked in the broth (Various regions including Emilia-Romagna, Tuscany, Le Marche, & Umbria)
• Scrippelle ‘Mbusse – crepes filled with pecorino cheese and served in broth (Abruzzo)
• Polpettine di Carne in Brodo – baby meatballs in broth (Various regions)
• Polpette di Ricotta in Brodo – ricotta balls served in broth (Calabria)
• Frittatine in Brodo – a julienned, thin frittata (Italian omelet) served in broth (Trentino-Alto Adige and other)
• Stracciatella con Polpettine in Brodo – similar to Roman stracciatella with the addition of little meatballs and sometimes veggies such as chard (Abruzzo, Le Marche, Molise, Puglia)
• Scarola e Polpettine in Brodo – a soup with many names with little meatballs and escarole served in broth (Various regions with different names, including Molise)
• Gnocchi di Pane in Brodo – bread dumplings served in broth (Various regions & versions)
• Canerderli in Brodo – Knodel served in broth (Trentino-Alto Adige)
• Celestine in Brodo – crepes cut into julienne strips and served in broth (Friuli-Venezia Giulia)

Advanced:

• Tortellini in Brodo – a meat filled pasta with pork, mortadella, Prosciutto di Parma, Parmigiano-Reggiano, salt, egg, and freshly grated nutmeg (Emilia-Romagna)
• Anolini in Brodo – a cheese-filled pasta from Piacenza, or a meat-filled pasta from Parma (Emilia-Romagna)
• Cappelletti in Brodo – a cheese or meat-filled pasta from the Romagna area (Emilia-Romagna)
• Spoja Lorda – a cheese-filled pasta square from the Romagna area (click the link for my recipe) (Emilia-Romagna)
• Zuppa Imperiale – a mixture of eggs, Parmigiano-Reggiano, nutmeg, semolina, butter, and salt that is baked, cut into cubes, and served in broth (Emilia-Romagna, Le Marche)
• Agnolini Mantovani – a meat filled pasta from Mantua (Lombardy)

I think you get the idea. There are endless possibilities within traditional Italian cuisine to keep learning new delectable dishes until the end of time. Then, if you want to get creative with your delicious broth, the sky is the limit. Don’t forget how good this broth will be in things like stews and risottos, especially saffron risotto from Milan.

Delicious ideas for the boiled meat…

Now you have your broth and ideas about how to use it. There are so many things you can do with the meat. Once your have strained your broth, you will have your meat and aromatics leftover. Some people use the vegetables in soups. I usually feed them to my dog, who considers them a very special treat! After the meat has cooled, I pull it off of the bones and remove any gristle or skin.

Here are some delectable ways to use the meat:

• Serve it plain, with sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper and good extra virgin olive oil.
• Add the meat to soups with vegetables and pasta, rice, or other grains.
• Prepare a salad with shredded meat, arugula, lemon juice, and extra virgin olive oil.
• Accompany your meat with an Italian Salsa Verde (a sauce of parsley, garlic, anchovy, vinegar, capers, and sometimes pickles, bread, and hard-boiled egg). This combo is great on sandwiches.
• Chop the meat and add it to a pasta filling.
• Polpette di Lesso – glorious fried meatballs made of minced boiled meat, mixed with mashed potato, egg, parsley, salt, pepper, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. You need these in your life.
• Picchiapò – a dreamy Roman dish of boiled meat that is cooked with tomato, onions, and other wonderful aromatics. It makes killer sandwiches.
• Lesso Rifatto – a Tuscan recipe that slowly stews boiled beef with sliced onions and tomato. Potatoes can be added.
• Mondighili Milanese – meatballs prepared with chopped boiled meat and pan-fried in copious amounts of butter.
• Francesina – another Tuscan recipe similar to Lesso Rifatto but with more aromatics.

Italian culinary ingenuity…

Look at all of these genius ways that Italian cooks use leftover meat! I don’t know about you but I am seriously hungry. They waste nothing and produce beautiful food in the process.

The recipe for Brodo di Carne – Italian Meat Broth

Now that I’ve given you enough ideas to keep you busy for a good long while, here is the recipe. Once you get comfortable, you can forget measuring things altogether. Don’t stress. Get in the kitchen and make some Italian meat broth! If you have fond food memories of how your family used broth and the leftover boiled meat, I’d love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below.

Italian Meat Broth (Brodo di Carne)

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Serves: 4-6

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 4.4/5

( 8 voted )

Ingredients

• 1.1-1.4 kg (2 1/2-3 lbs) mixed meat (1/4 chicken or stewing hen, 1 lg meaty beef rib, 1 lg piece of chuck, brisket, shin, marrow, cheek, or shank
• 1 veal bone, optional
• 1 medium onion, peeled and left whole
• 1 carrot, washed and trimmed, peeling is optional
• 1 stalk celery, washed
• 13 g (generous 2 1/2 tsp) sea salt, plus more for final seasoning
• 1 tomato, optional
• 1 parsley sprig, optional

Instructions

If preparing in a stockpot:

1. Place all of the meat, vegetables, and salt in a large stockpot. Add water to cover, approximately 3 liters (quarts). Bring to a simmer and turn down the heat to low to keep at a low bubble.  Remove the scum that rises to the top with a skimmer. You will need to do this only at the beginning of the process.
2. Simmer for 3 hours, taste to see if you want to concentrate the flavors further. When you are ready, strain the broth, reserving the meat for other recipes. You may use the vegetables or discard them. You should have about 1- 1 1/2 liters (quarts) of broth.

If using a pressure cooker:

1. Place all of the ingredients, and about 1 3/4 liters (quarts) of water in your pressure cooker. Bring it up to pressure, turn down the heat if using a stovetop pressure cooker and cook for one hour. Turn off the heat and let the pressure release naturally. 
2. When you are ready, strain the broth, reserving the meat for other recipes. You may use the vegetables or discard them. You should have about 1- 1 1/2 liters (quarts) of broth.

Notes

The yield will vary depending on how high your heat is while cooking and upon how much you want to reduce your broth. Based on your pots and heat sources, you can determine after practice how much water you need to add. You can keep the broth in your refrigerator for up to 3 days. It freezes well for up to 3 months. If not using right away, you should cool your broth quickly to prevent the growth of bacteria. You can speed up the process by placing your container of broth, uncovered, in an ice bath, stirring occasionally.