Ropa Vieja is the national dish of Cuba. Beef is browned and then braised in seasoned, tomato-inflected broth and wine until it falls apart. Likely of Spanish origin and brought to the Americas, Ropa Vieja means “old clothes” in Spanish. Legend has it that a penniless old man of good faith had nothing to feed his family, so he boiled old clothes in a pot and prayed; miraculously it was transformed into this delicious dish! Serve Ropa Vieja with rice, black bean sauce, and fried plantains for a very traditional Cuban dinner or on its own too.
Prep Time: 15 minutes, Total Time: 3 hours, 15 minutes. Serves: 6 to 8.
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Ingredients:
- 1 medium Onion, peeled and trimmed
- 5 cloves Garlic, peeled and trimmed
- 2 Green Bell Peppers, cored and seeded
- 3 Tbs Olive Oil
- 1 ½ lbs. Boneless Beef Chuck Roast or Carne para Deshebrar*
- 1 ½ Tbs fresh or 1 ½ tsp dried Oregano leaves
- 1 tsp dried Thyme leaves
- 1 tsp Sweet Smoked Paprika
- ½ Tb ground Cumin
- ¼ tsp ground Allspice
- 6 oz Tomato Paste
- 3 cups Low-Sodium Beef Broth
- 1 cup dry Red Wine
- 3 Bay Leaves, fresh or dried
- 2 Tbs Red Wine Vinegar
- 1 ½ cups Queen-size Pimento Stuffed Green Olives
Preparation:
- Chop the onion, mince the garlic and cut the bell peppers into long strips, combine in a bowl and set aside.
- Pour the olive oil into a 3-quart Dutch oven over a medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, place the beef in the Dutch oven and, using tongs, brown the beef on all sides. Remove the browned beef from the pan and set aside in a bowl.
- Add the onion, garlic and bell peppers to the Dutch oven, stir, lower the heat to medium, cover and cook until the vegetables soften, about 10 minutes.
- While the vegetables are cooking, combine the seasonings (oregano, thyme, paprika, cumin and allspice) in a bowl.
- When the vegetables have softened, uncover and stir the seasonings into the vegetables; cook uncovered for 1 minute.
- Push the seasoned vegetables to the sides and place the browned beef back into the Dutch oven. Add the tomato paste, beef broth, red wine and bay leaves to the Dutch oven; stir to mix together and raise the heat to high to bring to a boil. Cover and cook over a medium-low heat for 2 to 2 ½ hours.
- Slice the olives into thin rings, set aside in a bowl with the red wine vinegar.
- At this point, the Ropa Vieja will be cooked down nicely and the beef fallen apart in the sauce. Using tongs, remove any still-solid pieces of the beef from the Dutch oven to a bowl; using two forks, shred or otherwise break-up the beef and return it to the Dutch oven.
- Add the red wine vinegar and sliced olives to the Dutch oven, stir to mix with the beef and sauce, cover and cook over a medium-low heat for 5 minutes, then serve Ropa Vieja.
*Note:
- Carne para Dehebrar or “Meat for Shredding” is a very lean cut of beef popular in Mexican supermarkets and now available in many American supermarkets; it could be brisket or London broil perhaps, and requires a long period of braising, at which point it will become shredded beef.