Make This Delicious Summery Ragu for the Whole Family

Cut the beef shin into five-centimetre chunks and season all over with salt and pepper. Finely chop the onions, carrots and celery.

Set a large casserole dish or heavy-based saucepan over a high heat. Pour in one tablespoon of the oil, then fry the beef in batches, turning until evenly browned – about six minutes per batch. Transfer to a bowl and repeat until all the beef is browned, adding an extra tablespoon of olive oil when needed.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the onions, carrots and celery to the casserole/pan, then tip in the anchovies, if using, along with one tablespoon of their oil. If you’re not using anchovies, add the remaining one tablespoon of olive oil and a big pinch of salt. Stir and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes until all the veg has softened.

Halve the garlic bulb horizontally and cut the rind off the parmesan (used in the parmesan polenta). Add the garlic halves and the parmesan rind to the pan, along with the bay leaves, rosemary and tomato paste. Stir and cook for a minute, then return the beef to the pan, along with any juices in the bowl. Add the red wine and the tinned tomatoes, then fill one of the tins with water and pour that in, too.

Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for two hours. After two hours, take off the lid and simmer for a further one hour until the meat is meltingly tender; it should shred easily with two forks. Shred the meat into the sauce, fishing out the parmesan rind, rosemary stalks, garlic skin and bay leaves. Season with salt and pepper.

To make the salsa verde, either in a food processor or by hand, blitz or very finely chop the parsley (stalks and all) and then the pickled walnuts or capers. Add the mustard and olive oil, along with two tablespoons of the vinegar. Stir or blitz to combine. Season to taste, adding the remaining vinegar if you like – you want it to be sharp enough to cut through the ragù. Set aside.

Depending on how many people you’re feeding, work out your quantities for the polenta, then finely grate the parmesan and cut the butter into cubes. Heat the chicken stock to boiling point in a large saucepan and then, whisking continuously, tip the polenta into the pan in a steady stream. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, continuing to stir, for 15 minutes until the polenta has absorbed the stock, and is creamy and not grainy to taste. Add the parmesan and butter, stir until melted, and season to taste – I like lots of black pepper.

Ladle the polenta into shallow serving bowls, top with the ragù, then spoon over the salsa verde.

Get ahead

Ragù is one of those dishes that tastes better when made one to two days before serving – what a win. The salsa verde can also be made at the same time and kept in an airtight container in the fridge.