Beef spezzatino
Beef spezzatino is a hearty Italian-style stew of beef chuck steak slowly braised with bacon, onion, garlic and fragrant rosemary, thyme and sage. The Thermomix TM7 sautés, chops and slow-cooks everything in one bowl, delivering tender, melt-in-the-mouth meat in a rich, aromatic sauce with minimal hands-on effort.
About this recipe
Beef spezzatino Thermomix TM7 recipes bring the soul of the Italian trattoria straight to your kitchen with this all-in-one kitchen machine. Tender cubes of beef chuck steak are braised slowly with crispy bacon, sweet onion and garlic, while rosemary, thyme and sage infuse the sauce with warm, woodsy aromas. It is the ideal quick weeknight dinner solution for slow-food lovers: the TM7 chops the herbs and aromatics in seconds, browns the bacon without splatters, and then holds the stew at a gentle, precise temperature so the connective tissue in the chuck steak melts into gelatine. The result is fork-tender meat in a glossy, deeply savoury sauce, exactly the texture that normally demands hours of attentive stove-top babysitting. Serve this comforting main course over creamy polenta, mashed potatoes or with crustary bread to mop up every last drop. Perfect for Sunday family lunches, batch cooking or an impressive but effortless dinner party centrepiece.
Preparation tips
- Cut the beef chuck steak into even cubes of roughly the same size so every piece braises at the same pace and you avoid a mix of tough and falling-apart meat in your spezzatino.
- Reserve a few whole sage leaves to crisp briefly in olive oil at the end and scatter over the stew; this adds a restaurant-style garnish and an extra layer of aroma to the finished sauce.
- This spezzatino tastes even better the next day, so make a double batch with extra beef chuck and store it in the fridge overnight; the rosemary and thyme flavours deepen noticeably overnight.
Recipe variations
- For a Tuscan twist, add a splash of red wine and a handful of pitted olives along with the beef chuck steak, and finish the sauce with a little grated lemon zest for brightness.
- For a milder, kid-friendly version, omit the bacon and sage, replace them with diced carrots and a tablespoon of tomato paste, and serve the tender beef over buttery mashed potatoes.
Thermomix TM7 Benefits
- Fine chopping - The TM7 blades mince the onion and garlic clove in seconds, releasing their sweetness into the spezzatino base. [Chopping]
- Weighing accuracy - Add the beef chuck steak directly into the mixing bowl; the Thermomix integrated scale portions every ingredient precisely. [Weighing]
- Gentle heating - The Thermomix browns the bacon evenly at a controlled heat, rendering crisp strips without any splattering mess. [Browning]
- Slow braising - Precise temperature control keeps the rosemary-scented stew simmering gently until the beef turns fork-tender. [Heating]
- Herb grinding - The TM7 grinds the fresh thyme and sage finely so their flavours infuse the sauce completely rather than staying stringy. [Grinding]
Ingredients
- fresh rosemary
- fresh thyme
- fresh sage leaves
- brown onion
- garlic clove
- olive oil
- bacon
- beef chuck steak
- salt
- ground black pepper