Passover recipe: Jake Cohen’s Roasted Tomato Brisket

Every Jewish family has a sacred brisket recipe for the holidays, whether it involves red wine and mire poix or ketchup and cola. Cookbook author Jake Cohen has two braised beauties in his repertoire: an onion-laced brisket inspired by French onion soup and this bright Roasted Tomato Brisket.

The recipe, featured in Cohen’s new cookbook, “Jew-ish: A Cookbook: Reinvented Recipes from a Modern Mensch” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $30), calls for roasting canned whole peeled tomatoes until caramelized, then mashing them up to join caramelized onions and mushrooms, red wine and plenty of aromatics.

And yes, save that braising liquid. It makes the most divine pasta sauce, Cohen says.

Roasted Tomato Brisket

Serves 10 to 12

Ingredients

2 (28-ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided use

5-to 6-pound beef brisket, fat cap intact

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

12 ounces cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced (2 cups)

2 large yellow onions, diced

6 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled

1 cup red wine

2 large carrots, scrubbed and cut into 1-inch pieces

12 sprigs thyme

4 fresh bay leaves

Directions

Heat the oven to 450 degrees.

Pour the canned tomatoes and all their liquid into a 9 by 13-inch baking dish and spread them into an even layer. Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil on top. Roast for 30 minutes. Move the dish to the top rack of the oven, then turn on the broiler and broil for 3 to 4 minutes, until the tops of the tomatoes begin to lightly char. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly, then carefully mash the tomatoes with the back of a fork or a potato masher. Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees.

Season each side of the brisket with 2 heavy pinches each of salt and pepper. In a large Dutch oven, heat the remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Sear the brisket, turning it as needed, until golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Transfer the brisket to a platter.

Reduce the heat to medium, then add the mushrooms, onions and garlic to the pot. Cook, stirring often, until softened and lightly caramelized, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the wine, then stir continuously with a wooden spoon for 1 minute to scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot.

Stir in the roasted tomatoes, carrots and 2 heavy pinches each of salt and pepper, then return the brisket to the pot. Tie together the thyme sprigs and bay leaves with a small piece of butcher’s twine (tying is optional, but makes it much easier to remove the herbs after cooking), and nestle the herb bundle in the pot. Bring to a simmer, then cover the pot and transfer to the oven. Cook for 3 hours to 3½ hours, until very tender when pierced with a fork. Remove from the oven and let cool completely, then refrigerate overnight.

The next day, skim off and discard any fat, if desired, and discard the herbs. Transfer the brisket to a cutting board and cut it across the grain (perpendicular to the fibers you’ll see running through the brisket) into ¼-inch-thick slices. Return the meat to the sauce and heat over medium heat until warmed through. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, then serve.

— Jake Cohen, “Jew-ish: A Cookbook: Reinvented Recipes from a Modern Mensch” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $30)

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