Bollito misto served with mustard fruits and salsa verde

This may sounds unappealing – an array of boiled meats cooked in the same broth – but if you can get hold of excellent–quality raw ingredients, the results are astonishingly good. Simply use water if you don’t have any stock handy - the meats will flavour it as they cook. Traditionally, the cooking broth would be eaten as a soup for that meal or another one later on. I’ve gone for a bit of Anglo with my Italian, hence the corned beef!

• serves

  6–8

• prep

  45 minutes

• cook

  5 hours

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 350 g pork belly
• 50 g salt
• 500 g corned beef
• 2 litres (8 cups) stock or water
• 1 kg cotechino
• 2 chicken breasts, wing bone in, skin on
• mustard fruits, chopped, to serve

Salsa verde

• 2 tbsp salted capers, rinsed and finely chopped
• 2 small garlic cloves, crushed
• ½ cup finely chopped parsley
• 3 anchovy fillets, mashed
• ½ lemon, juiced
• ⅓–½ cup extra virgin olive oil
• salt and freshly ground pepper

Salting time 4 hours

Instructions

Place the pork belly in a non-reactive container. Sprinkle with the salt and refrigerate for 4–8 hours.

Rinse off the salt and return to refrigerator.

Place the corned beef in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to boil, then remove from the heat and drain.

Place the drained beef in a clean saucepan and add the stock, topping up with enough water to just cover the meat. Whatever you do, don’t add salt – the corned beef and cotechino will both add salt to the broth. Bring to a boil, cover with a lid and reduce to a simmer. Cook for 2 hours.

Meanwhile, prepare the salsa verde, as its best left to stand for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Place all the salsa verde ingredients in a bowl and mix together well. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.

After 2 hours of simmering, add the cotechino and pork belly to the beef. Increase the heat to bring it to the boil, then reduce the heat again to allow it to simmer for 2 hours.

Add the chicken. Increase the heat again to bring it to the boil, then reduce the heat to allow it to simmer for about 10 minutes, or until the meat is tender. Taste stock for seasoning.

Slice the meats and arrange them on a large serving plate. Serve hot, accompanied by salsa verde, a little of stock, and mustard fruits.

Note

• Cotechino is a fabulous fat Italian–style sausage made by only a few butchers in the country. Traditionally eaten in winter, it’s worth seeking out.

• Mustard fruits are a sweet, pungent glacé fruit available from good delis and food stores.

Also try Matthew Evan's cotechino with lentils or making his cotechino from scratch.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.