Venison Stew with Wild Greens
Photo by Hank Shaw
I am always on the lookout for new venison stews, and this interesting stew from Puglia, in the heel of the Italian boot, has earned a place in my recipe book. Called callaredda, it’s an odd stew, with only a few ingredients and meat that is not browned before it is added to the pot — and you use water, not wine or stock, to build the stew.
I found the recipe (the original uses mutton) in Puglia: A Culinary Memoir, one of the few Puglian cookbooks in English. It is simple shepherd fare, and to make it great you need good ingredients.
I used the meat from the deer’s neck here, and it was definitely a good choice: Run through with connective tissue and a little fat, it is more like pork shoulder than the ultra-lean venison stew meat you would get off the animal’s hind leg, for example. Non-hunters should use lamb shoulder if you can find it, or go with pork shoulder. Hunters can use any venison stew meat.
As for the wild greens and fennel, wild fennel grows everywhere in California — it looks just like supermarket fennel (also known as anise) but with no fat bulbs. If you are not in California, just use regular fennel.
The wild greens are easy: Pull dandelions and wild lettuces and chicories from around your yard. You can also buy dandelion greens at farmer’s markets and in good supermarkets. In a pinch, you can substitute chard, but it won’t be the same.
Use good pecorino cheese here, too. You will notice the difference. As for the hot chile element, I used Calabrian hot pepper powder I got from Scott over at Sausage Debauchery, but you could use any medium-hot cayenne powder or just use broken up dried chiles.
Serves 10-12
- 2-3 pounds venison, lamb or mutton meat, cut into 2-inch chunks
- 1 pound wild or regular fennel, roughly chopped
- 2 pounds greens (dandelions, chicories, lettuces, escarole, etc)
- Cayenne, Calabrian hot pepper powder or dried chiles
- Salt
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup grated pecorino cheese
- Chop the wild greens into smallish pieces — they will shrink, but remember you will want to be able to eat them with a spoon, so no long stringy pieces.
- Salt the venison or lamb pieces well.
- In a large Dutch oven or other heavy pot with a lid, arrange some of the wild greens in the bottom, then add some of the fennel, a pinch of salt and about a third of the chile you plan to use — I don’t specify an amount because it is to your taste; the stew is supposed to be a little picante.
- Top this layer with about half the venison chunks, then drizzle half the olive oil over.
- Repeat this layering until everything is in the pot.
- Pour in enough cool water to just come to the top of the greens and meat. Cover and turn the heat on medium.
- Slowly bring the stew to a boil, then drop the heat to a bare simmer and simmer gently until the meat is tender, about two hours. Do not sir for the first 45 minutes, then stir every half-hour.
- Taste for salt and chile and add if needed. Stir in 2/3 of the pecorino cheese. Serve with crusty bread and a sprinkling of the remaining pecorino on top.
- I suggest a Southern Italian wine with this, like a Negroamaro or Nero D’Avola, or any bold red.
