Axoa de Veau

Ingredients

• 1 kg veal shoulder
• 4 long sweet green peppers
• 1 red pepper
• 3 onions, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 100 g Bayonne ham, diced
• 2 tsp piment d'Espelette
• 1 mild fresh green chilli, chopped
• 150 ml dry white wine
• 400 ml veal or chicken stock
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 thyme sprig
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt and black pepper

Before you cook

• Cut the veal into 1 centimetre dice with a sharp knife, never a mincer, trimming away sinew
• Deseed the peppers and chop them into small pieces by hand
• Chop the onions, the garlic and the fresh chilli
• Dice the ham

Steps

1. Warm the olive oil in a heavy casserole over medium heat.
2. Add the onions, the peppers, the garlic and the fresh chilli, then cover the pan and let them sweat for 12 minutes until soft.
3. Stir in the diced ham and cook uncovered for two minutes.
4. Raise the heat, add the diced veal and stir for five minutes, until the meat has lost its raw colour.
5. Sprinkle over the piment d'Espelette with a good pinch of salt and stir it through for one minute.
6. Pour in the white wine and let it bubble down for five minutes, scraping the base of the pan.
7. Add the stock, the thyme and the bay leaf, then bring everything to a gentle simmer.
8. Cover and cook over the lowest heat for one hour and 20 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes.
9. Take the lid off and simmer for 15 minutes more, until the sauce clings to the meat rather than pooling around it.
10. Taste and add salt, pepper and a little more Espelette if it needs lifting.
11. Serve in deep plates with boiled potatoes to soak up the juices.