Brasato al Barolo (Beef braised in red wine)

Ingredients:

• 1 (900 or 1kg) boneless chuck steak joint
• 1 onion, cut into 8 pieces, layers separated
• 2 large carrots, sliced into chunks
• 2 celery stalks, sliced into chunks
• 10 whole black peppercorns
• 5 cloves
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 sprig rosemary
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 (750ml) bottle Barolo (dry Italian red wine)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil, or more to taste
• 1 teaspoon salt

Preparation:

1. Place beef, onion, carrots, celery, peppercorns, cloves, garlic, cinnamon stick, rosemary, and bay leaves together in a stockpot. 
2. Pour wine over meat and vegetable mixture to cover entirely. 
3. Cover stockpot and marinate for 6 hours in the fridge. Turn beef in the marinade to make sure it is completely covered; return to the fridge to finish marinating, about 6 hours more.
4. Transfer beef from marinade to a plate to rest; pat dries thoroughly with kitchen roll. 
5. Pour marinade through a sieve and into a bowl to separate vegetable mixture from wine, reserving both vegetable mixture and wine.
6. Heat olive oil in the stockpot over medium-high heat. 
7. Brown beef on all sides, 4 to 6 minutes per side. Reduce heat to medium. 
8. Add strained vegetable mixture to stockpot; cook with the beef until fragrant, adding more oil as necessary to prevent burning, about 8 minutes.
9. Pour reserved wine back into stockpot; add salt. 
10. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer without removing the cover for 2 hours. 
11. Remove cover, stir, and cook until beef joint easily shreds with a fork, about 1 hour longer. 
12. Transfer meat from cooking liquid to serving platter; tent with foil to keep warm.
13. Return cooking liquid to a boil over medium-high heat; simmer until reduced to sauce consistency, 20 to 30 minutes. 
14. Discard cinnamon stick, rosemary and bay leave. Season with salt; puree mixture with a handheld immersion blender until smooth. 
15. Pour sauce over meat to serve.