Pašticada – Croatian Braised Beef

Pašticada – Croatian Braised Beef is a masterpiece of Croatian cuisine that you should try if you love a combination of sweet, sour, and savoury flavours. Marinated beef is braised in a luscious and rich sauce consisting of red wine, sweet wine, root vegetables, dried fruit, herbs, and spices. So flavourful and delicious!

Hello, folks! How are you doing? I hope you have had a great weekend and are now ready for a new week.

If you follow my blog, you may remember that Andrew and I had a wonderful vacation in Croatia two years ago. If you are into travel blogs (and apparently, cats haha), you can check out these posts:

Croatia, May 2023 (Part 1) | Zagreb, Pula, Poreč, Rovinj, Motovun

Croatia, May 2023 (Part 2) | Zadar, Split, Šibenik, Trogir

Croatia, May 2023 (Part 3) | Dubrovnik, Hvar Island, Korčula, Ston

I have also made and shared with you few recipes from Croatia. And today, I am excited to share with you another one which has been on my bucket list for a while – Pašticada.

Pašticada – Croatian Braised Beef

On our last night in Dubrovnik (the next day we would be heading back to Zagreb to have our flight), we had a lovely dinner at one of the restaurants focusing on heritage food. While I enjoyed Šporki Makaruli, Andrew had Pašticada.

It is hard to describe the flavour profile of this braised beef as it’s so complex. But it is surely one of the most unique and sophisticated sauces I’ve ever had. It’s sweet, it’s sour, it’s savoury. You should just make and try it yourself, my friends.

When I was doing research, I learned there were so many different nuances and variations. It’s completely normal. As with many authentic dishes, say, Bolognese or Georgian Satsivi, there’s no the only one correct recipe. Perhaps each family has their own best one.

That said, I have checked quite a few recipes and the one you are reading is rather a compilation of several recipes I liked the most. You know, a little from this, a little from another, and some havoc interpretation from me. Most heavily, I was inspired by the recipes Croatian Cooking: Pašticada Recipe (Beef Stew) Chasing the Donkey and Authentic Dalmatinska Pašticada Recipe – Croatian Beef Stew.

Ingredients for Pašticada

First, you need to correctly choose beef. Ideally, it should be the top round, which is more tender than the bottom round.

The next step would be marinade. You will need red wine, vinegar, a thick slice of pancetta, garlic cloves, cloves, and rosemary. Be sure to let the beef marinate overnight.

And for the sauce, you will need celery root, onions, some marinate liquid, sweet wine, prunes, dried figs, rosemary, and a few other things. Ideally, you should use Prošek – a dessert wine from Croatia. However, as it’s not available in Canada, I used a little Italian Marsala wine. Also, most recipes call for parsnip root, which I couldn’t find, so I swap for parsnips.

How to Serve Pašticada

Traditionally, Pašticada is served with homemade gnocchi or pasta. The typical gnocchi is made with flour and milk. I honestly intended to make some from scratch and bought the milk. But because this dish is time-consuming, last moment, I realized I was not into making gnocchi.

So, I quickly pan-fried some skillet potato gnocchi. Not too authentic but equally tasty!

More Croatian Recipes

And please be sure to check some other recipes I was inspired to make after our trip to Croatia:

Šporki Makaruli (Dirty Macaroni) – Pasta from Dubrovnik, Croatia

Ston Cake (Stonska Torta) – Croatian Pasta and Nut Cake

Pasta with Black Truffle Sauce (Croatian-Inspired Recipe)

Ajvar – Balkan Pepper Spread

I hope you like this Pašticada – Croatian Braised Beef, and you will make it a try.  If you make it, please let me know in the comment section of this post or send me an Instagram message or share your photos by adding the hashtag #havocinthekitchen.

Cheers!

Pašticada – Croatian Braised Beef

Recipe by Ben | HavocinthekitchenCourse: MainCuisine: Croatian

Servings

6-8

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Marinade

8-10

hours

Cooking time

3

hours

Pašticada – is a masterpiece of Croatian cuisine. Marinated beef is braised in a luscious sauce made with red wine, sweet wine, root vegetables, dried fruit, herbs, and spices.

Recipe adapted from the Croatia Honestly and the Chasing the Donkey

Ingredients

• 3 lb. (about 1.5 kg.) beef, top round

• Marinade:

• 75 g. pancetta

• 4-5 garlic cloves

• 6-7 whole cloves

• 2-3 sprigs of rosemary

• 1 bottle (750 ml.) red wine

• 1/2 cup (125 ml.) wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar

• Pašticada:

• 2-3 tbsp. (30-45 ml.) olive oil

• 2-3 large onions (1 lb. total), sliced

• 1/4-1/3 celeriac root (about 150-200 g.), peeled and cubed

• 1-2 large parsnips, peeled and cubed

• 2/3 cup (160 ml.) marinade

• 1/2 cup (125 ml.) sweet dessert wine – ideally Croatian Prošec, but I used Marsala

• a handful (about 10 large) pitted prunes, divided

• 4-6 dried figs, preferably Turkish

• 2 tbsp. (30 g.) tomato paste or concentrate

• salt and pepper, to taste

• 1 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

• a tiny pinch of clove (optional)

• 2-3 bay leaves

• a few rosemary sprigs, leaves

• a few thyme sprigs, leaves

Directions

• Preparation & Marinade
• Pat dry the beef.
• Peel and slice each garlic clove into 2-3 segments.
• Slice the pancetta into pieces the size of the garlic segments
• Insert a knife into the meat at a 30-degree angle, making small pockets a few centimeters apart. Fill the incisions with garlic, pancetta slices, and cloves, alternating them.
• Transfer the beef into a glass or ceramic pot. Pour in the wine vinegar or apple cider and wine. Add the rosemary sprigs and any remaining garlic.
• Marinate overnight. As the marinade will likely not cover fully the beef, be sure to flip it once halfway.
• Pašticada:
• Heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. using a paper towel, pat dry the beef (don’t discard the marinade). Transfer the beef to the pan and sear well on all sides, it will take between 10 to 15 minutes.
• Lower heat to low-medium or high-low. Add the onions, celeriac root, and parsley to the pan arranging the vegetables around the meat. Season well with salt and pepper, as well as nutmeg. Simmer for about 40-45 minutes until a the onions are very soft. If the pan looks too dry, add a few splashes of water.
• Add the dessert wine and marinade, as well as a half of prunes, figs, and tomato paste (concentrate). The sauce will only partially cover the meat, and that’s fine. Cover and cook the meat on low for about 1.5 hours, until the beef is tender.
• Remove the meat from the pot and place it on a cutting board. Cut it into 1.5 cm thick slices.
• Using an immersion blender, purée the sauce until the desired consistency. Typically, it is quite smooth, but I left it slightly chunkier. Try and season more if necessary. Also, it is a good time to add more marinade or sweet wine, to balance out the acidity and sweetness.
• Return the sauce to the pot. Arrange the sliced beef. Add the remaining prunes and few extra rosemary sprigs, as well as bay leaves. Also, while recipes did not call for that, I added a tiny pinch of ground clove; I just love its flavour – it’s totally optional. If the sauce is too thick, and it does not require more marinade or sweet wine, you can thinner it up with some water.
• Simmer for about 30 minutes. Try once again to see whether the sauce requires anything else i.e., more salt, dried prunes, rosemary, sweet wine or marinade.
• Serve with gnocchi or pasta, ideally homemade and parsley, if desired. I serve with store-bought potato skillet gnocchi.

Notes

• Please be sure to have a few extra prunes, figs, and rosemary, as well as sweet wine. You may need to add more to balance out the flavour to your liking. If you don’t have dessert wine, I think you can add a little sugar or few extra dried fruit.

Ben | Havocinthekitchen

Hi – I’m Ben, a blogger, recipe developer, and food photographer. I’m glad you’re here! I hope you will enjoy hundreds of delicious recipes and a pinch of havoc in the kitchen.