by: Kate McMillan
Cook Time
3 hours 40 minutes
Prep Time
15 minutes
Yield
12-15 servings
Total Time
3 hours 40 minutes
Prep Time
15 minutes
Yield
12-15 servings
summary
A brisket is mostly a hands-off recipe. The trick is to cook it for a long time at a low heat and to have plenty of flavorful braising liquid in the pan. If you make this the day before, refrigerate the brisket in the braising liquid and then reheat it all together. We’ve updated this classic Passover main dish with a bright, herbaceous chopped sauce that packs a punch with briny capers and olives.
ingredients
- Brisket Ingredients:
- 5 pound brisket, trimmed, but small layer of fat kept intact
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 yellow onions, halved and sliced
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 2 cups red wine
- 2 bay leaves
- 3 sprigs thyme
- Green Olive Gremolata Ingredients:
- 1 cup parsley, finely chopped (about 2 bunches)
- ½ cup pitted Castelvetrano olives, roughly chopped
- 3 tablespoons lemon zest (about 3 lemons)
- 2 tablespoons capers, drained
- 3 tablespoons olive oil, plus more as needed
directions
- Season the brisket very generously with salt and pepper and let it sit at room temperature for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 300°F.
- Add the onions and garlic to a large roasting pan and place the brisket on top. Add the tomatoes, red wine, bay leaves and thyme. Cover tightly with aluminum foil.
- Transfer the roasting pan to the oven and cook until the meat will easily shred with a fork, about 3½ hours. Allow the brisket to rest for 15 minutes.
- While the brisket is resting, make the green-olive gremolata. In a small mixing bowl, stir together the parsley, olives, lemon zest and capers. Stir in the olive oil and add more, as needed, for a glistening, almost “soupy” sauce.
- Remove the brisket from the braising liquid and slice against the grain. Arrange brisket on a serving platter and spoon the green-olive gremolata on top. Serve at once.
notes
Notes: You know a brisket is done when it shreds easily with a fork. Don’t make the gremolata more than a couple hours ahead of time so it keeps its bright green color. You can make the gremolata with any olives, including kalamata, Spanish or nicoise. Chop the olives into large pieces (“roughly”) so you can see the ingredients in this dish. Braising with wine is not the time for your most expensive wine. Use an inexpensive wine that you enjoy.
