Instructions
Follow the steps and taste along the way.
Soak the mushrooms and prepare the ingredients
Pour 250 ml of hot water over the dried porcini mushrooms and leave them to soak for 15 minutes. Cut the meat into approximately 4 cm cubes and pat it dry. Finely chop the onion, carrot, and celery, and mince the garlic. Remove the mushrooms, strain the soaking liquid through a fine-mesh sieve, and set it aside.
Brown the meat and vegetables
Heat 20 ml of olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Brown the meat in two batches so the pan is not overcrowded; let each batch brown on several sides for about 5 minutes. Transfer the browned meat to a slow cooker. Add the remaining 10 ml of oil, the onion, carrot, and celery to the same pan and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and chopped soaked mushrooms, and cook for another 30 seconds.
Prepare the sauce
Pour the red wine into the pan and scrape up the browned bits with a wooden spoon. Let it simmer gently for 2 minutes. Pour the mixture into the slow cooker with the meat and add the strained mushroom soaking liquid, chopped tomatoes, rosemary, bay leaf, 4 g of salt, and black pepper. Stir to combine.
Slow-cook the ragù
Cover the slow cooker and cook on LOW for 7 hours. The meat should be tender and easy to pull apart with a fork; check that its thickest part has reached at least 71 °C. Remove the bay leaf, shred the meat into larger strands with two forks, and stir in the balsamic vinegar. Taste and adjust the salt with a small amount if needed.
Cook the polenta and serve
Bring 900 ml of water and 3 g of salt to a boil in a saucepan. Slowly pour in the cornmeal, stirring constantly. Reduce the heat and cook for about 25–30 minutes, depending on the coarseness of the cornmeal, stirring frequently until the polenta thickens and the cornmeal softens. Stir in 15 ml of olive oil. Divide the polenta among four bowls, top with the ragù, and serve hot.
