Slow Braised Brisket of Beef with Risotto and Sauteed Parsnips

Trim off any fat and sinew from the brisket and cut into slices about one inch thick  Picture  . Season with salt and pepper. Quickly brown the meat in a large frying pan along with a couple of tablespoonfuls of olive oil and put into a casserole.

Peel onion and chop into pieces, top and tail the carrots, scrape and cut into thick slices, top and tail a couple of celery stalk cut into one inch pieces and put all into the frying pan and soften in a couple of tablespoonfuls of olive oil. Then use a slotted spoon to transfer to the casserole.

Add a couple of glasses of reasonable red wine to the frying pan, reduce for a couple of minutes scraping the bottom of the pan and transfer to the casserole.

Top and tail a leek, remove outer leaves, chop into one inch slices and add to the casserole. Remove the outer from the garlic head, cut off the base with a serrated knife and add to the casserole. Tie up a bunch of fresh thyme with some string and add to the casserole.

Make some beef stock (cube is fine), pour into the casserole until just covering the contents. Add a good grind of black pepper and a teaspoonful of salt. Cover the casserole, put in the oven at 300°F/150°C/Reg2 and cook for three hours.

Just before the time is up, top and tail and peel the baby onions or shallots. Quickly brown in a little olive oil and take out and put on some kitchen paper.

Start the preparation of the risotto by peeling and finely chopping the onion and softening in a little butter. Add the rice and start adding the kitchen stock in the normal way.

Top and tail the parsnips, scrape and cut lengthwise and start sautéeing in some olive oil.

Remove the herbs from the casserole, add the baby onions and put back in the oven for 30 minutes. At the end of this remove the meat and onions to keep warm. Use a hand whisk to reduce the remainder of the casserole to a nice gravy, season with salt and pepper. Re-add the meat and onions, cover and keep warm.

Finish off the risotto by adding some saffron ground and stirred into a little stock. Season with salt and pepper and stir in a little parmesan if you like. When brown, dry the parsnips on some kitchen paper.

Spoon some risotto on to serving plates, put pieces of meat on top followed by parsnips. Spoon some of the gravy round and serve  Zoom  .