Boiled Beef with Salsa Verde from Piedmont followed by Swiss Broth
The reason that this recipe gives you a two-course meal is that, having made the main course of
bollito (boiled beef), you will end up with the broth, which is used for the next course. Curiously,
you eat the main course first and then the soup afterwards (just like fondue Chinois) with a
raw egg stirred into it. The egg must be very fresh – not one that’s been lurking in the fridge
for a month, please. This is true winter food. The beef will be really tender and can be served
sprinkled with large sea salt crystals, the salsa verde (called ‘bagnet verde’ in Piedmont), a good
Barolo or other full-bodied wine and a rustic loaf of bread, cut thickly. Put olive oil on the table
instead of butter.
When making the croûtons for the brodo, fry the garlic first in the oil but don’t let it burn or it
will taste bitter. Discard the garlic before frying the bread until golden but, again, not too brown.
Serves 4
Ingredients:
For the bollito:
2 large carrots (Nantese)
2 medium onions (Dorato di Milano)
2 celery sticks (Dorato d’Asti), leaves on
800 g brisket of beef
6–7 black peppercorns
1.5 litres of water
1 bouquet garni
1 tablespoon salt
For the salsa verde
a good handful of flat-leaf parsley (Gigante di Napoli), chopped
2 hard-boiled egg yolks
1 small clove of garlic (Bianco Veneto)
1 small onion
1 thick slice of bread, crusts removed, soaked in wine vinegar
3 anchovies or 8 cm anchovy paste
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sugar
olive oil
wine vinegar
For the brodo:
1 stock cube (optional)
4 medium fresh eggs
chopped parsley
croûtons to serve, made from diced bread fried in
olive oil flavoured with a clove of garlic
For the bollito, wash the vegetables, put all the ingredients into a large pan and bring to a
simmer. Don’t be tempted to trim the fat on the beef – it’s needed and the broth will still be
only about 2 per cent fat! When making all meat broths you will need to remove the scum that
appears, which you can do with a tablespoon and a mug. It will take 5 minutes or so but the
broth will be clearer and taste better, so it’s worth doing.
When there is little or no more scum, cover, reduce the heat and simmer gently for 2 hours,
stirring occasionally. It doesn’t matter if the meat sticks out from the water a little, as being
covered it will cook through, but if this is the case do turn it over during cooking. Meanwhile, make the salsa verde by putting all the ingredients except the oil and vinegar into a
blender and whizzing together until fairly smooth. Then add some olive oil and vinegar.
After 2 hours, check the seasoning of the brodo (broth). If it still tastes watery you can add a
stock cube to lift the broth – preferably chicken, as beef will be too overpowering.
Cut the meat diagonally into slices and arrange on serving plates with the halved
vegetables. Sprinkle some sea salt over the meat and then add some of the salsa verde.
Heat the broth through until piping hot and then spoon it into four bowls. Break an egg into
each bowl, sprinkle some parsley on top and bring straight away to the table. The egg will half
cook through (this is why they need to be really fresh) and remain half liquid. While the eggs
enrich the soup it is also surprisingly refreshing, and I’ve never had a bowl unfinished. Serve the
croûtons alongside the soup.
*taken from the book ‘From Seed to plate’ by Paolo Arrigo, published by Simon and Schuster