Grandma’s Classic Italian Keto Bone Broth. The Original and Best ZERO-CARB CARNIVORE Superfood.
Today’s recipe is a re-discovery of a traditional recipe that has lost appeal through the years, but that we should all return to, keto or not.
You‘re indeed very lucky (or old…lol) if you can remember your granny or your mum dishing up steaming, wholesome, tasty meat broth. It was especially wonderful on cold winter nights or when you were ill. You drank it from a tea cup, it warmed up your cockles and made you feel better. In Italy, where traditions never wane, bone broth has always been served as a main course, with pasta, rice, tortellini, agnolotti, ravioli, gnocchi, or even chunks of dried bread soaked into it.
My Grandma’s Classic Italian Keto Bone Broth recipe is EXACTLY how she used to make it. But before we get to it, let me explain all the wonderful virtues of bone broth and why YOU should be drinking it too.
My Favourite 5 Bone Broth Health Benefits
- It contains an abundance of minerals like calcium, phosphors, magnesium and silica. Heard of chondroitin and glucosamine supplements for pain relief and arthritic conditions? Well, they come from cartilage and tendons attached to bones!
2. It’s rich in the amino acid glycine, which has an important liver detox function. This is the road sweeper your body needs to get rid of toxins and heavy metals.
3. Hydrophilic properties make it attract gastric juices, therefore assisting digestion.
4. Helps gastro-intestinal health and gives a boost to the immune system.
5. Improves skeletal and cardio-vascular health. For a PubMed article on this, click HERE.
Gelatine, anyone?
The gelatine in bone broth is great for healing leaky gut syndrome and food intolerances. It contains tannic acid, which has antibacterial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. HERE is a detailed study on the subject. If you make bone broth and, once refrigerated, it turns to a gelatinous mass, YOU’RE LUCKY: you have created a nuclear weapon of nutrients.
Furthermore, gelatine has a high content of collagen, which is brilliant for our bone structure and skin. It donates elasticity and hydration, and may even help reduce cellulite.
And of course, bone broth is great for keto flu.
The Best Meat Cuts for Grandma’s Classic Italian Keto Bone Broth
Beef bones are by far superior in terms of nutrition, although you can make bone broth with poultry and fish too. Feet, hooves, wings, tail, knuckles, heads, necks and carapace (the shell around crustaceans) are ideal. They make the best broth with the highest gelatine content.
The most important thing is that you choose meat and bones from pasture-raised, grass-fed animals, even if the price tag is higher.
Low-price meat is false economy, as you will NOT get some or even ANY of the macronutrients, minerals and benefits described above. What an animal ate and how it lived before slaughter will have affected the nutritional content of its tissues.
Why You Should Choose Meat from Organic Pasture-Raised, Grass-Fed Animals
It is impossible to ignore the ethical aspects of intensive farming. It is just horrific. Please don’t support this awful practice by buying cheap meat from indoor-reared animals. These poor creatures are treated badly, are fed with artificial mixes that include GMO grains, and are pumped with drugs to keep them from viral and bacterial infections. They are also given unnecessary hormones to make them bulky, quickly. Because selling as much meat as possible, for maximum gains, is THE ONLY goal of intensive farmers.
Profit is what matters to them first and foremost. They, and the regulators who allow this barbaric practice to continue, don’t care about the animals or about what YOU eat. Intensive farming is bad news for the animals themselves, for our ecosystem and for our health. Period.
If you find grass-fed meat too expensive, eat it less often. There is absolutely no need to eat meat daily, even on the ketogenic regime. To reduce costs, you could also opt for cheaper cuts, like ox tail, shanks and cheeks, which are often the most succulent when slow cooked.
Bone Broth with an Italian Twist
You will notice, when you read my Grandma’s Classic Italian Keto Bone Broth recipe, that a piece of actual meat is involved. You can make the broth with just bones, but my Italian granny always added a lump of meat to the pot. She would then serve the broth with tortellini or ravioli as a first course. Followed by the boiled meat with some leafy green vegetables as the main course. Clever thinking indeed. Boiled meat was and still is very popular in Italy. Especially in the north, where many restaurants serve a traditional dish called bollito misto (mixed boiled meat) with various dipping sauces. It consists of selected meats such as beef, chicken, pork and sometimes game – if the hunting season is open. And it is considered gourmet food.
Any muscular meat like braising beef will do just fine. The broth is obtained from a long cooking period on low heat. As a result, the meat becomes tender enough to break apart with a fork. Boiled meat is delicious. On its own, or with some sautéed veggies on the side, or shredded and added to an omelette or pie, alongside a lovely cup of steaming hot broth…heavenly!
One last thing. You’ve probably read other recipes for bone broth telling you to simmer it for days, and wonder how my Grandma’s Classic Italian Keto Bone Broth can be ready so quickly. There are in fact 2 ways of extracting all the goodness from bones:
1) By using a Pressure Cooker to reduce simmering time considerably.
2) By using a Slow Cooker or even just a big tall pot on the hob. 4 hours should suffice.
My new Ninja Foodi MAX 15-in-1 with Smart Lid Multi Cooker does absolutely everything and I absolutely love it (U.S. option HERE).
Enjoy!
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Grandma's Classic Italian Keto Bone Broth
Ingredients
- 1.2 kg beef bones - knuckles, tail, joints
- 5 bay leaves
- 1 handful black peppercorns
- 1 celery stalk
- 1 carrot
- 1 onion
- 1 handful COARSE Himalayan pink salt (U.S. option HERE)
- 2 TBSP apple cider vinegar (U.S. option HERE)
Optional
- muscular meat of your choice - to save for a separate meal
- organic broth granules, organic stock cubes, or organic meat extract - to intensify the flavour and add umami
Instructions
- place the bones, and meat if using, into a pressure cooker, and add enough water so everything is 3-5 inches below the surface.1.2 kg beef bones
- bring to the boil uncovered.
- over the next few minutes, skim off the scum that will continuously rise to the surface, using a slotted ladle.
- incorporate remaining ingredients and seal the pressure cooker lid.5 bay leaves, 1 handful black peppercorns, 1 celery stalk, 1 carrot, 1 onion, 1 handful COARSE Himalayan pink salt, 2 TBSP apple cider vinegar
- once pressurised, reduce heat to low and cook for 2 hours.
- turn off heat and allow total pressure release before removing the lid.
- discard vegetables and bones (or give your dog a treat), set aside the meat, and filter through a fine-mesh sieve into another pot or large bowl.
- adjust salt if required and let cool completely before refrigerating.
- once refrigerated, it will become more or less gelatinous (depending on type of bones used), with a layer of solid fat on top - you may or may not wish to discard it.
Notes
Nutrition
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I love bone broth! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Thank YOU for stopping by, Lynn.
Oh really? That is great. Nice post thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome!
It looks so tasty. I love having this when it’s so cold outside and all I can do is watch TV or read books.
This actually sounds quite nice I have to admit. I’d definitely down a whole bunch of that. I am sure it’s packed with LOADS of flavor!