Recipes

•   olive oil
•   3 onions, finely sliced
•   3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushes
•   100g dried porcini, soaked for 1 hour
•   2 bay leaves
•   ½ tsp ground clove
•   ½ tsp ground star anise
•   3 tbsp freshly chopped sage
•   2 tbsp parsley chopped
•   180g tomato paste
•   750ml Chianti
•   1.2kg chianina beef shin, cut into 60g pieces
•   1.5 litres beef stock
•   sea salt
•   freshly ground pepper

•   2 litres water
•   sea salt
•   500g polenta
•   200g grated parmesan
•   20g butter

Heat some oil in a pot and cook the onions and garlic until onions start to caramelise.

Lift out the porcini from the soaking liquid and add to the onions along with the herbs and spices and mix in. Add the tomato paste and cook for two minutes then deglaze with the Chianti, turn heat to low and let simmer gently.

Heat a large pan with some oil and brown the meat on all sides for five minutes, seasoning with salt and pepper.
Add the browned meat to the sauce and cover with stock. Bring to a simmer, turn down the heat and simmer for 90 minutes.

Take a piece of meat out of the sauce and cut to taste for tenderness;check seasoning.


Polenta
Salt the water and bring to the boil in a large pot.
Add the polenta in a steady stream stirring constantly. When all the polenta has been added, stir for two–three minutes, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15–20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the parmesan and the butter, season to taste and serve immediately.


To assemble
Spoon a spoonful of polenta on the side of a main course plate,arrange meat on the other side and spoon sauce over the top of themeat.