filetto all'aceto balsamico
In Reggio Emiglia, a beautiful province between Milan and San Marino in Italy, a product was born a long time ago: Aceto Balsamico. In this region, a lot of dishes are prepared with this dark, intensely flavoured vinegar. The preparation I like most is the reduction to a sauce, often served with meat or poultry, more like a “jus” than a gravy - try this recipe and you will understand!
Ingredients (for 4) as a starter:
1 fillet of lamb (you can use beef or duck alteratively)
2 dl of good aceto balsamico di Modena
2 dl of beef stock
1 tablespoon of dried tomatoes, finely diced
150g of white cabbage
a pinch of dried chili
2 tablespoons of maple syrup
Fresh rosemary
Olive oil, butter, salt and pepper
For a main, just double the quantities.
Directions:
First prepare the cabbage. Finely cut it (on a mandolin slicer) and set aside. Heat some olive oil, add the chili (according to liking), then add the cabbage and sear on medium to high for about two minutes, always stirring. Add 1.5 dl of the beef stock, stir again and cover with a lid. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, dust the meat with flower, season with salt and pepper and sear on high heat in a non-sticking frying pan (where you added generously some butter, olive oil and fresh rosemary). Reduce the heat to medium, and after three minutes flip the meat. Now add the dried tomatoes, wait for a minute, then add the aceto and the small leftover of the beef stock (it should make some noise, otherwise increase the heat a bit) and let it bubble away and reduce for about five to ten minutes.
Meanwhile add the maple syrup to the cabbage and season with salt, taste and serve on a plate.
Add a good teaspoon of cold butter to the sauce, but switch off the heat before! It will help to make the sauce smooth and intensify the taste of the reduced balsamic vinegar.
Take out the meat and slice it – then distribute on the cabbage. Get rid of the rosemary and spoon some sauce on top.
