Tocco (traditional Genoa meat sauce)

“Tocco” is the traditional Genoese meat sauce. Don’t call it ragù nor bolognese, it’s a different thing. It’s a sauce made by a big piece of beef (chuck is the best part) slow – slow – cooked under stock for at least 3/4 hours. The more it cooks the more all its juices come out and mix with the flavors of the other ingredients: the veggies of the soffritto, dried porcini, tomato paste, fresh herbs and white wine. You put it on fire early in the morning and it will keep you company in the kitchen, softly simmering below the lid, until lunch. The result may be very liquid, this is why we usually water down a spoon of flour which thickens the sauce, though it shall remain light, a velvety vail that softly covers and embraces your pasta. The piece of over cooked meat can be served sliced separately or can be minced finely for preparing meat balls. Do not give into the temptation of blending it into the sauce! You will get an horrible texture, a horrible color and your long cared sauce will be a total failure (I can speak for my own experience….).