Brasato al Barolo

Ingredients

• 1.3kg beef chuck or cappello del prete, in one piece
• 1 bottle (750ml) Barolo or another Nebbiolo red wine
• 1 white onion
• 1 carrot
• 1 celery stick
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 sprig of rosemary
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 small cinnamon stick
• 10 black peppercorns
• 1 tsp juniper berries
• 40g unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 300ml hot beef stock
• Salt and black pepper

Before you cook

• Tie the beef into a compact cylinder with kitchen string at 3cm intervals.
• Cut the onion, carrot and celery into rough 2cm chunks.
• Put the beef in a deep bowl with the vegetables, garlic, herbs and all the spices, pour over the whole bottle of wine, cover it, and refrigerate for 12 hours, turning it once.
• Lift the beef out of the marinade and pat it completely dry, keeping the wine and the vegetables separate from each other.

Steps

1. Season the dried beef generously with salt and pepper on every side.
2. Melt the butter with the olive oil in a heavy casserole over a medium-high heat.
3. Brown the beef for about four minutes on each face, until a dark crust forms all the way round.
4. Lift the beef out onto a plate.
5. Tip the drained marinade vegetables into the casserole and cook them for eight minutes, stirring, until they take on colour.
6. Return the beef to the pot and pour in the strained wine.
7. Bring the wine to the boil and let it bubble hard for five minutes, to drive off the raw alcohol.
8. Add the hot stock, which should bring the liquid about halfway up the meat.
9. Lower the heat until the liquid barely trembles, then cover the pot.
10. Braise for three hours, turning the beef every 45 minutes so it cooks evenly.
11. Test the meat with a skewer, which should slide in with no resistance, and give it another 30 minutes if it does not.
12. Lift the beef out and let it cool for at least 30 minutes, which is what stops the slices falling apart.
13. Fish the bay leaves, cinnamon stick, cloves and rosemary out of the pot.
14. Blend the remaining vegetables and liquid to a smooth sauce with a stick blender.
15. Simmer the sauce uncovered until it coats the back of a spoon, then season it with salt.
16. Cut the strings off the beef and carve it into 1cm slices across the grain.
17. Lay the slices in the warm sauce and heat them through gently for five minutes before serving.