Cima alla genovese

Step 1: Melt ⅔ oz butter in a frying pan over a medium heat and cook 14 oz veal mince with 1 garlic, breaking it up, until no longer pink, 5 minutes. Leave to cool.

Step 2: Soak 2 ⅛ oz white bread, crusts removed in ½ cup milk for 5 minutes and squeeze it out. Blanch 5 ½ oz peas in boiling water for 2 minutes and drain.

Step 3: Beat 5 eggs in a bowl and mix in the cooled veal, bread, peas, 2 ⅛ oz parmigiano reggiano, 1 oz pine nuts, 1 tbsp marjoram, ¼ tsp nutmeg, 1 tsp salt and ½ tsp black pepper. It will be quite loose.

Step 4: Rub the outside of 2 ⅝ lb boneless veal breast with a pocket cut in it with 1 tsp salt. Sew most of the pocket opening closed with kitchen string and a trussing needle, leaving a gap of about 8 cm.

Step 5: Spoon the filling into the pocket until it is no more than two-thirds full, pressing it into the corners, then sew the opening closed tightly. The most common mistake is overfilling: the eggs swell as they cook and split the seams.

Step 6: Prick the meat all over with a needle so it doesn't balloon. Wrap it snugly in a clean muslin cloth and tie the ends.

Step 7: Put 1 onion, 1 carrot, 1 stalk celery and 2 bay leaves in a large pot with 12 ½ cups water and bring to a simmer. Lower in the cima, keeping it covered with liquid, and poach at a bare simmer, never boiling, for about 2½ hours. It is done when a skewer slides into the meat easily and the centre of the filling reaches 160°F.

Step 8: Lift the cima out, put it on a tray and set another tray on top weighted with a couple of cans. Leave it to cool for 1 hour, then cover and chill under the weight in the fridge overnight.

Step 9: Unwrap, pull out the string and cut the cold cima into 1 cm slices with a sharp knife. Serve cool; keep any leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 3 days.