Ropa Vieja

Ingredients

• 1.2 kg beef brisket or flank, in large pieces
• 2 onions, one halved and one sliced
• 2 red peppers, sliced
• 1 green pepper, sliced
• 5 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 3 bay leaves
• 400 g passata
• 150 ml dry white wine
• 100 g green olives, halved
• 2 tbsp capers
• 3 tbsp olive oil

Method

1. Simmer the beef whole

   Cover the beef with water, add the halved onion and bay, and simmer very gently for two hours until it falls apart. Keep 500 ml of the cooking liquid — it is the stock for the sauce.

   2 h

2. Shred with the grain

   Cool slightly and pull the meat into long threads with two forks, following the grain. The name means old clothes, and it refers to those ragged strands — chopping it into cubes misses the point entirely.

3. Start the sofrito

   Heat the oil and cook the sliced onion until soft and golden.

   10 min

4. Peppers, slowly

   Add both peppers and the garlic and cook another 10 minutes until they have properly softened and sweetened.

   10 min

5. Build the sauce

   Stir in the cumin, oregano and paprika, then the wine, and let it bubble away before adding the passata and the reserved beef stock. Simmer 20 minutes.

   20 min

6. Return the beef

   Fold the shredded beef back in with the olives and capers and simmer 15 minutes more, until the sauce clings rather than pools. Serve with rice and fried plantain.

   15 min