Tuscan-Style Boiled Meat Platter (Piatto di Bollito Toscano)

1. Season the beef and chicken legs

A day or two before cooking, season the beef and chicken legs generously with salt and fresh-ground black pepper. This will allow the flavors to penetrate the meat deeply.

2. Prepare brine for beef tongue

The night before you cook, prepare a brine by dissolving 4 tablespoons of salt in 2 quarts of water. Submerge the beef tongue in the brine and let it soak overnight. This step helps to tenderize the tongue and infuse it with flavor.

3. Cook the beef tongue

The next day, start by cooking the beef tongue. Place the brined tongue in a large pot with enough water to cover it. Add a thickly sliced onion, a peeled carrot, ¼ teaspoon of black peppercorns, 3 allspice berries, 4 thyme sprigs, 1 bay leaf, and ½ cup of white wine. Bring to a simmer and cook gently for about 5 hours, until the tongue is tender. Once done, peel the thick outer layer off the tongue and discard it.

4. Prepare the seasoned beef

While the tongue is cooking, prepare the seasoned beef. In a 3-gallon stock pot, combine the seasoned beef with 2 quarts of chicken broth, enough water to cover the beef, an onion with 2 cloves stuck into it, a peeled carrot, and a bay leaf. Bring to a simmer and cook for about 2 hours, skimming the surface occasionally to remove any impurities. This slow simmering process extracts flavors and tenderizes the meat.

5. Prepare the stuffed cabbage

As the beef cooks, prepare the stuffed cabbage. Blanch 10 cabbage leaves in boiling salted water for about 4 minutes until they are pliable. In a bowl, mix ½ cup of fresh breadcrumbs with ⅓ cup of cream. Add ¾ pound of ground pork, 2 cleaned and chopped chicken livers, an egg, salt, pepper, and 1 teaspoon of chopped fresh thyme. Mix well, then divide the mixture among the cabbage leaves, rolling them up and securing with cotton string.

6. Add chicken legs to beef pot

After the beef has simmered for 1.5 hours, add the chicken legs to the pot. Continue cooking for another 30 minutes, then remove the onion and carrot that were added earlier.

7. Add vegetables to beef pot

Next, add the vegetables to the beef pot: either 8 small carrots or 4 large carrots cut in half, 4 large or 8 small leeks, and either 4 medium onions cut in half or 24 small boiling onions. Cook these for about 30 minutes, removing the vegetables as they become tender.

8. Simmer stuffed cabbage and sausages

In a separate saucepan, simmer the stuffed cabbage leaves and garlic sausages in some of the broth from the meat pot for about 20 minutes until they are cooked through.

9. Strain and reheat

Strain the meat broth through a fine strainer and skim off any fat. Reheat the meats, vegetables, and stuffed cabbage in the strained broth if necessary.

10. Serve

To serve, arrange the sliced meats, sausages, vegetables, and stuffed cabbage on a deep platter or in soup plates. Ladle some of the rich broth over everything. For the best experience, serve the platter with coarse salt and Salsa Verde.