FOOD FRIDAY!

Neapolitan Pot Roast With Creamy Onion Gravy

The only word for this dish is luscious. The recipe is my adaptation from the one in a wonderful 1997 cookbook called In Nonna's Kitchen, by Carol Field. Field scoured rural Italy and collected recipes from the "grandmothers" (nonnas) and brought them together in this book. She says of this recipe: "This dish is real home cooking, something that you would never find in a restaurant. It was once the sauce used by poor people in Naples for Sundays and holidays before it was replaced by the now famous ragù." If that's progress, all I can say is, give me the old days.

Notes: you'll think there's no way you can eat all these onions, but trust me. What you're doing here is "sweating" them down to their component parts. The juice has no place to go but into the meat, which is tenderized and flavored by it. The solids are pulverized into a creamy consistency. The name of the dish is no accident. There's just no dairy in it. As for the cut of meat: I just use a standard boneless pot roast and it works fine.

2/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
7 tablespoons (3 1/2 ounces) diced pancetta
3 pounds finest pot roast in one piece, such as point of the rump, or bottom round
Salt and pepper to taste

8 large (about 4 pounds) sweet white onions, finely sliced

2 to 3 carrots, chopped
1 small celery rib, finely chopped
1/3 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh marjoram
1 cup beef broth
1/3 cup dry white or red wine
2 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped, or 1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 lb. wide pasta such as linguine or egg noodles, cooked al dente

Warm the olive oil and pancetta in a deep, heavy casserole or a 12-inch heavy sauté pan large enough to hold the meat and all the onions comfortably. Season meat and add to hot oil. Sear over high heat until it is well browned, 7 to 8 minutes per side. While meat is browning, combine broth, wine and tomatoes in a medium bowl and set aside. Once it is browned, remove the meat to a plate. Do not clean out pan. Lower heat and add the onions, carrots, celery, parsley, basil, and marjoram. Cover and cook over the lowest possible heat, stirring occasionally, until the onions are soft and limp but have taken on no color, at least 25 to 30 minutes. (The onions will cook down considerably.) Return browned meat to the pot, burying it completely in the onions. Add combined liquids, cover the pot and cook over the lowest possible heat another 2 ½ to 3 hours, until the onions are a thick mass and the meat is fork-tender. Remove from heat and allow to rest 10-15 minutes before serving.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Serve half of the sauce over the pasta and the rest over the meat.