🍖 Coda alla vaccinara (Roman oxtail stew)

Name: Coda alla vaccinara (Roman oxtail stew)
Total time: 240 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Italy · Rome, Lazio
Ingredients: 1.5 kg oxtail, cut into pieces; 800 g canned chopped tomatoes; 4 celery stalks, cut into 5 cm pieces; 1 onion, 1 carrot, finely chopped; 30 g raisins, soaked; 20 g pine nuts; 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder; 2 tbsp olive oil, salt, pepper, 1 clove

Origin: Italy · Rome, Lazio

612kcal

per serving · 350 g

175kcal

per 100 g

49 gProtein14 g / 100 g

38 gFat11 g / 100 g

14 gCarbs4 g / 100 g

Coda alla vaccinara is a Roman stew of oxtail braised for hours in tomato sauce until the meat slips off the bone. Near the end, celery is added along with a sweet-and-sour touch of raisins, pine nuts and a little cocoa, which gives the sauce depth and a glossy dark colour. It is eaten as a main course, and the sauce is often mopped up or served over pasta separately.

Diets

✓

No porkfor halal, the meat must be halal-slaughtered

✓

Gluten-freeno wheat, barley or rye in a typical recipe

✓

Dairy-freeno milk, cheese, butter or yogurt in a typical recipe

✓

Keto-friendly4 g carbs per 100 g

✓

High protein14 g protein per 100 g — 32% of the calories

Not vegetarianbecause of: oxtail

Not veganbecause of: oxtail

Allergens

Contains (in a typical recipe):

⚠ Tree nuts ⚠ Celery

What it is made of

oxtailtomatocelerypine nutsraisinscocoa

Recipe

4 servings240 min

Ingredients

1.5 kg oxtail, cut into pieces
800 g canned chopped tomatoes
4 celery stalks, cut into 5 cm pieces
1 onion, 1 carrot, finely chopped
30 g raisins, soaked
20 g pine nuts
1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tbsp olive oil, salt, pepper, 1 clove

Method

Blanch the oxtail in boiling water for 5 minutes, drain and pat dry.
Brown the oxtail in the oil, then add the onion and carrot and cook until soft.
Add the tomatoes, clove, salt and a glass of water; cover and simmer gently for 3–3½ hours, adding water if needed.
Boil the celery for 5 minutes and add it to the pot with the raisins, pine nuts and cocoa; cook 15 minutes more.
Rest briefly and serve the oxtail in its thick sauce.

How to make it lighter

Oxtail is fatty: chill the stew overnight and lift off the fat before reheating.
Use 1 tbsp oil for browning instead of a generous pour — 1 tbsp ≈ 120 kcal.
Serve with plenty of extra celery or a green salad alongside the stew.

History

The dish belongs to Rome's quinto quarto tradition, the “fifth quarter” of offal and cheaper cuts left after the prime meat was sold; vaccinari were the butchers who worked with cattle. Today it is a staple of Roman trattorias.

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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →