How to Make Dalmatian Pasticada

Pasticada is a traditional Dalmatian beef stew. It's the most popular dish from Dalmatia, and every city has its own preparation method.

This specialty dates back to ancient Greek and Roman cuisine, and it's on Croatia's gastronomic heritage list. 

Here's our recipe for tasty Dalmatian Pasticada. It lasts for two days, but it's definitely worth the process.

Ingredients for Pasticada

To make Pasticada, you'll need:

• Beef meat (Fricando) – app. 1,5kg
• 50g celery root
• Parsley root – 30g
• One bigger onion
• 6 cloves of garlic
• Bacon Pancetta 4 strips
• 3 bigger carrots
• a bit of rosemary, bay leaf, and thyme
• 7-8 dried plums
• 250 ml red wine
• 250 ml of water
• 3 tablespoons of wine vinegar
• Salt and pepper
• Olive or cooking oil
• 600ml of water
• 50 g of tomato paste
• 200ml of Prosek.

Recipe for Pasticada

Take about 1,5kg of beef meat (this part is called the Fricando or the top round) and leave it in one piece. Then insert the strips of bacon and garlic into the meat. Make several holes in the meat and stuff it inside (like in pockets). The bacon will make the meat soft and garlic will give it a special taste.

Stuffed Meat for Pasticada, photo credit Sasha's kitchen

Place the whole meat in a dish and add some parsley root, carrot, celery root, onion, and garlic. All these vegetables should be sliced into small pieces so they can be cooked later. Then, spice the mixture with salt and pepper. Add a bit of rosemary, bay leaf, thyme, and dried plums.

Finally, soak the mixture in red wine and water (about 250 ml) and add 3 tablespoons of wine vinegar.

Marinade for Pasticada

Cover it and leave it in the fridge for 4 hours. Then turn the meat and spice it with salt and pepper again and leave it to marinate overnight.

The Second Day of Making Pasticada

Divide the meat from the vegetables and the liquid. Put some olive or cooking oil in the frying pot just enough to cover the pot. Then, fry the meat from all sides shortly to preserve its taste. Then, take it out and cover it.

Pasticada after the frying process

Add some more oil to the pot and fry the vegetables. But first, take out the thyme. Then add the liquid (in which the meat was marinated overnight). Add the meat and pour water to cover half of the meat. Add 50g of tomato paste and cook for one hour covered. 

The cooking of Pasticada

Cook the meat, turning it often to cook it evenly from all sides. Add water one more time to cover half of the meat. Cover it and cook for one more hour.

Take out and slice the meat. Remove the bay leaf from the sauce. Blend the sauce and add salt and pepper (if necessary). Add 2dcl of prošek (Dalmatian sweet dessert wine) and leave to cook for 5 more minutes.

Blending the vegetables into a puree, photo credit: Podravka

Pour the meat with the sauce. As it is made from vegetables, the sauce is quite thick. It is best served with homemade gnocchi.

How to Make Homemade Gnocchi

Ingredients for gnocchi:

• 900gr of potatoes
• 300gr of flour
• A bit of salt
• One to two eggs.

Recipe for Homemade Gnocchi 

Cook the potatoes and smash them into puree. Add some flour (about 1/3 of the potato amount), a bit of salt, and one egg and mix all these together. Then, shape the mixture into gnocchi. After you make gnocchi, put them in boiling water and cook them till they come out floating on the surface. You can also freeze them for future use. 

Gnocchi floating on top

Hope you now know how to make Pasticada and that you will be able to cook it successfully. If, on the other hand, all this seems too difficult for you, there is another way to try the Dalmatian Pasticada. Try it in a restaurant in Croatia.

The Best Restaurants in Croatia for Pasticada

List of restaurants:

• Tavern Trs in Trogir
• Tavern Menego on Hvar Island
• Tavern Bonaca in Dubrovnik
• Tavern Bokuncin in Sutivan, Brac Island
• Taverns Maslina or Adio Mare on Korcula Island
• Tavern Kalalarga in Makarska.

We have luxury villas in Croatia at all these destinations. You can rent them for holidays during your gastro trip.