author: JoeandWim
created: 2007-06-11 19:08:02
servings: 3-4
notes:
No doubt there are a million ways to do this, but this is how my mum has always cooked it. And it's delicious.
recipe:
1 marrow 500g minced beef 2 carrots 1 onion 2 sticks celery 1/2 glass of red wine 1 tbsp concentrated tomato puree 1 beef stock cube 1 cup rice a generous handful (really, it doesn't matter) of pine kernels olive oil Preparation time: 40 mins or so (which can be done a long time in advance if you want) Cooking time: 45 mins Chop onion, carrot and celery as fine as you might like to eat them and fry in olive oil until soft. Add the mince gradually, ensuring it browns properly. Once all the meat is browned, add the stock cube (crumbled up), approx 200mls of boiling water, the tomato puree, wine, salt and pepper to taste - and anything else you'd like to flavour it with. Really, this is entirely up to you. If you've got mushrooms you need to use up, chuck em in. If you like Worcestershire sauce in your mince, pour away. What you want is a strongly flavoured mince to your taste. So once all the ingredients are in, let it simmer for at least half an hour. Cook the rice any way you like it (I use long grain, rinsed, in a pan covered in water to about 1cm over the height of the rice and a generous pinch of salt, cook over a moderate heat till all the water is absorbed, then leave covered until you need it). Mix the rice and the mince and pine kernels to taste. You can add a tablespoon of tomato ketchup here and it would do no harm at all. Cut the marrow in half lengthways and scoop out the seeds (which can be hard to differentiate from the flesh in some marrows - basically, if it's easy to scoop, scoop - don't force it or you'll be wasting flesh). Parboil the marrow in salted water for 5 -10 mins. Any longer and it'll become too soggy to keep its shape so watch it. [This does require a pretty big pot - just cut in half across if you can't manage it). Then fill marrow halves with stuffing - you should have too much, so pack more stuffing around them in an ovenproof dish. All of this can be done hours in advance if necessary. Bake at 180 degrees for 45 mins. Eat immediately.