Beef shin, chestnuts, polenta and gruyère

Use a proper gruyère, aged for 18 months or more, or else something similar, such as Le Maréchal, L’Etivaz or Beaufort. Beef shin is an ideal cut for a stew like this. It requires no browning, just lots of time, simmering gently into submission.

SERVES 4 | PREP 10 MINS | COOK 4 HRS | EASY | GF

1.5kg beef shin on the bone (ask the butcher for a whole piece)

1 tbsp black peppercorns

1 garlic bulb

1 bay leaf

750ml bottle of red wine

250g pack cooked chestnuts

250g good-quality coarse polenta

100g unsalted butter parmesan to taste good-quality olive oil

100g gruyère cheese

1 To make the beef stew, put the beef shin in a heavy-based pan with the peppercorns, garlic, bay and wine. Top up with cold water to just cover if necessary. Bring to the boil over a high heat, then turn down to a gentle simmer, skimming off any scum that gathers on the surface. Taste and add a little salt until it tastes seasoned but not salty – the beef will cook for a long time and the broth will reduce and intensify the seasoning.

2 Cook for 3 hrs 30 mins-4 hrs or until falling off the bone. When the beef is almost ready, add the whole chestnuts. Either keep the beef warm until ready to serve, or cool and chill in the refrigerator overnight, which will only improve it.

3 Meanwhile, make the polenta – it should take about an hour to cook so try to time it to be ready at the same time as the beef. Bring 1.2 litres of water to the boil in a lidded pan, then whisk in the polenta in a steady stream.

4 The polenta will soon bubble in a violent volcanic fashion, so turn down the heat so that the polenta bubbles gently. Put on a tight-fitting lid and leave over the lowest possible heat for 1 hr, without stirring. Taste the polenta – it should be thick and creamy, the coarse grains softer and no longer gritty. Whisk in the butter, some salt and parmesan to taste.

5 To serve, put some polenta on a plate. Scoop out a piece or two of the melting beef, as well as some of the marrow from the bone. Spoon on a few chestnuts and some of the broth. Drizzle with olive oil and coarsely grate the gruyère over the top.

PER SERVING 909 kcals | fat 40.9G saturates 19.9G | carbs 28.3G | sugars 0.6G fibre 1.9G | protein 70.8G | salt 1.2G

“Provence s a and of olive oil, uni ed egetables and eguiling ight, and of d ich n colour and oud n lavour”