Oxtail soup

Preparation – 15 minutes

Wash the carrots and celery; there is no need to peel the carrot. There is also no need to peel the onion and garlic cloves, the skin of the onion gives the broth a nice colour.

Roughly chop the onion, carrot and celery and crush the garlic cloves.

Finishing the oxtail soup – 4 hours

Heat olive oil in a large frying pan and fry the oxtail on both sides until dark brown. Remove the oxtail from the pan and sauté the onion, celery and carrot for around 10 minutes.

Add, and briefly fry the tomato purée, then deglaze the pan with the alcohol of your choice.

Place the oxtail back in the frying pan along with the crushed garlic cloves, bay leaves, cloves, black peppercorns, salt and the sprigs of parsley.

Pour 3 litres of water into the pan, place the lid on and bring to the boil. Once the water boils, turn the heat to low and simmer gently for at least 3 hours without a lid (or with the lid angled over the pan).

Occasionally skim any foam from the broth; this is best done with a slotted spoon.

Remove the oxtail from the stock and pick the meat from the bone/connective tissue. Strain the stock and discard the vegetables.

Season with black pepper and salt. You can serve the oxtail broth as is, or thicken it to make oxtail soup.

To do this, melt 50g of butter in a large saucepan and add 50g of flour to make a roux. Then, gradually add the stock, stirring constantly with a whisk until combined and smooth.

Place the meat pieces back into the soup and garnish with fresh parsley, if desired. Enjoy your meal!