Pecorino is often served with roast or grilled lamb but I also adore it with oxtail. This is an exceptionally delicious dish, with the grated cheese partially sticking to the meltingly soft meat. Use your fingers to pick up the bones and suck out the lovely marrow and juices. You could use another hard cheese aged between 6 and 12 months in place of the Pecorino.
SERVES 4
100ml grapeseed oil
1.4kg large oxtails, trimmed of excess fat, soaked in cold water for 1 hour, drained, cut into pieces at the joints and patted dry
2 onions, roughly chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
400g carrots, thickly sliced
75cl bottle of red wine (ideally Pinot noir)
400ml ready-made veal stock, or home-made rich chicken stock
1 bouquet garni (thyme sprig, bay leaf and a few parsley stalks, tied together)
½ celeriac, peeled, cut into cubes and blanched for a few minutes
300g button mushrooms, cut into large pieces
20g curly-leaf parsley, chopped
150g Pecorino Romano, finely grated
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Preheat the oven to 170°C/Gas 3½.
Heat the oil in a large sauté or frying pan over a medium heat and brown the oxtail pieces, turning them to colour well on each side. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside in a colander.
Add the onions, garlic and carrots to the oil remaining in the pan and cook, stirring constantly, for 2–3 minutes until lightly golden. Drain and set aside with the oxtail.
Bring the wine to the boil in a large flameproof casserole over a high heat and let bubble for 5 minutes. Pour in the stock then add the oxtail pieces, onion and carrot mixture and the bouquet garni. As it comes to a simmer, put the lid on and transfer to the oven.
Cook for 2 hours, then add the celeriac and mushrooms and return to the oven, covered, to cook for a further 30 minutes until the meat is meltingly tender.
Remove from the oven and use a skimmer to transfer the oxtail pieces and vegetables to a shallow serving dish. Cover with cling film and keep warm.
Strain the cooking liquor through a fine chinois into a saucepan, discarding the bouquet garni. Skim off the fat from the surface, then place the pan over a medium heat and allow the liquor to bubble and reduce to a full-flavoured, concentrated jus that will lightly coat the back of a spoon.
To serve, pour about one-third of the reduced jus over the oxtail and vegetables and sprinkle with the chopped parsley and then the grated cheese. Serve the remaining jus separately in a jug.