Italian National Dishes
Bollito Misto Piemontese
Last updated: 2026-08-27
Recipe at a glance
Bollito Misto Piemontese
Key recipe details from the source.
- Yield
- 8 main-course servings
- Preparation
- 40 minutes
- Cooking
- 210 minutes
- Passive time
- 15 minutes
- Total
- 265 minutes
- Approximate calories per serving
- 835 kcal
- Equipment
- 10–12 litre stockpot · Two additional saucepans · Skimmer · Kitchen twine · Instant-read food thermometer · Fine sieve · Large warm serving platter · Sharp carving knife
Bollito Misto Piemontese — Mixed Simmered Meats with Bagnet Verd
A home-scale Piedmontese bollito built from several beef cuts, tongue, poultry and separately cooked cotechino, carved hot and served with potatoes and a sharp parsley-based bagnet verd.
01 · Overview
Overview
Bollito misto piemontese is less a single cut of boiled meat than a carefully staged collection of textures. A platter can bring together gelatinous brisket or scaramella, leaner beef muscle, dense tongue, tender poultry and rich cotechino, with sauces providing acidity and freshness. In a large ceremonial gran bollito, the array can expand into a famous seven-plus-seven system of primary and secondary cuts. A domestic recipe does not need to imitate that scale to preserve the central idea.
This version is deliberately sized for eight rather than a banquet. It uses two contrasting beef cuts, tongue, hen or mature chicken and cotechino. The beef and tongue share an aromatic broth because their long cooking times are compatible. Poultry joins later so it does not disintegrate by the time the beef is tender. Cotechino cooks in its own pan because its rendered fat and strong seasoning would otherwise dominate the main broth.
The starting temperature of the liquid reflects the purpose of bollito. The aromatic water is brought to a boil before the large beef pieces are lowered in, after which the pot returns quickly to heat and settles into the gentlest simmer. The priority is flavourful, sliceable meat. This differs from a stock-making approach in which meat may start in cold water to encourage more extraction into the liquid.
Once the initial foam has been skimmed, patience matters more than intervention. A hard rolling boil knocks meat against the pot, clouds the broth and can make exposed surfaces feel stringy before connective tissue has softened. At a bare simmer, collagen-rich cuts gradually become tender while remaining sliceable. Tongue is peeled while warm, when its outer skin releases much more easily than after chilling.
Sauces are integral to the Piedmontese table. Bagnet verd brings parsley, anchovy, caper, vinegar, garlic and olive oil into a coarse green sauce that cuts through rich meat. A little hard-boiled egg and stale bread give body without turning it into mayonnaise. Bagnet ros, mustard and cognà are other customary partners, but providing one complete sauce keeps the recipe executable without turning the cooking day into a sauce catalogue.
The practical challenge comes at the end: different meats become ready at different moments, yet the platter should arrive hot. Finished pieces can wait briefly in a little hot strained broth rather than being sliced immediately. Carve only shortly before serving. That preserves moisture, keeps the tongue and leaner beef from drying at the edges and gives each diner a proper mixture of cuts.
02 · Ingredients
Ingredients
Beef, tongue, poultry and aromatic broth
- 600 g
- beef chuck or muscle, tied as one piece
- 600 g
- beef brisket or scaramella, one piece
- 500 g
- beef tongue, scrubbed well
- 700 g
- hen or bone-in chicken, about half a bird
- 1
- onion, about 180 g, halved
- 2
- carrots, about 180 g total, cut into large pieces
- 2
- celery stalks, about 120 g total
- 2
- whole cloves
- 2
- bay leaves
- 10 g
- flat-leaf parsley stems, tied together
- 18 g
- coarse salt
- About 6
- litres water
Cotechino and potatoes
- 400 g
- fresh uncooked cotechino
- 800 g
- waxy potatoes, peeled or well scrubbed
Bagnet verd
- 60 g
- flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
- 30 g
- stale white bread crumb
- 30 ml
- red wine vinegar
- 12 g
- anchovy fillets, drained and finely chopped
- 15 g
- capers, rinsed, drained and chopped
- 50 g
- hard-boiled egg, about 1 large egg, finely chopped
- 6 g
- garlic, about 1 large clove, finely grated
- 100 ml
- extra-virgin olive oil
03 · Directions
Directions
Start the meat broth
Build the aromatic water
Put about 6 litres water into the stockpot with the onion, carrots, celery, cloves, bay leaves, parsley stems and salt. Bring to a full boil and let the vegetables flavour the water for about 20 minutes.
Add beef and tongue
Lower in the beef chuck, brisket and tongue. Return the pot to a boil, skim the foam that rises during the first 15–20 minutes, then reduce the heat immediately.
Settle into a bare simmer
Cook so the surface only trembles. From this point, the beef and tongue will need roughly 2½–3 hours in total. Turn the large pieces occasionally if they are not fully submerged.
Add the poultry at the right time
Delay the hen or chicken
After the beef has simmered for about 75 minutes, add the poultry. Bring the liquid gently back to temperature without allowing a hard boil.
Cook until safe and tender
Continue for 60–90 minutes depending on whether the bird is a mature hen or younger chicken. Verify at least 74 °C in the thickest meat without touching bone. Remove the poultry once tender rather than leaving it until every beef cut is finished.
Cook cotechino and potatoes separately
Start cotechino in cold water
Lightly prick the casing, place the sausage in a separate pan, cover with cold unsalted water and bring slowly to a gentle simmer. Cook for 60–90 minutes, or according to its size and producer's guidance, until the centre reaches at least 71 °C.
Boil the potatoes
In another saucepan, cover the potatoes with cold water, bring to a gentle boil and cook for 20–25 minutes until tender but intact. Drain and keep warm.
Make bagnet verd
Soften the bread
Mix the stale bread crumb with the red wine vinegar and leave for 5 minutes.
Build a coarse green sauce
Add parsley, anchovy, capers, hard-boiled egg and garlic. Mix or chop together until the ingredients are fine but still textured.
Loosen with olive oil
Stir in the 100 ml olive oil. The bagnet should mound softly on a spoon and spread easily over hot meat. Refrigerate until shortly before service if it is made early.
Finish the bollito
Test beef and tongue
After roughly 2½ hours, begin testing with a skewer or thin knife. The beef should yield with little resistance while still holding together for carving. The tongue should feel tender through its thickest section.
Peel the tongue warm
Lift out the tongue and, as soon as it is cool enough to handle, slit and pull away the tough outer skin. Trim the root end if necessary.
Hold meats in broth
As each piece finishes, set it in a warm tray and spoon over enough hot strained broth to keep its surfaces moist. Keep the poultry in large pieces until carving.
Drain the cotechino
Lift it carefully from its water, rest for a few minutes and remove the casing if preferred. Slice only when the main platter is nearly ready.
Carve and compose the platter
Slice beef and tongue across the grain, portion the poultry and cotechino, and arrange all the meats with the potatoes. Serve immediately with bagnet verd at the table.
04 · Control points
Control points
Once the meat is in, keep the broth at a bare tremble rather than a rolling boil.
Its fat and seasoning belong on the platter, not in the primary beef broth.
Poultry should not remain in the pot merely because the beef needs more time.
| Problem | Guidance | Adjustment |
|---|---|---|
| The beef is dry but still firm | The liquid boiled too hard. Lower the heat until the surface barely moves and give collagen-rich cuts enough time to tenderise. | |
| The poultry falls apart | It entered the pot too early or stayed in after reaching tenderness. Add it later and remove it independently of the beef. | |
| The platter cools too quickly | Too much carving happened before service. Hold whole pieces with hot broth and use a warmed platter. | |
| The bagnet verd tastes harshly vinegary | The bread was not given time to absorb the vinegar or the oil is insufficient. Let the soaked crumb stand, then add the measured oil gradually. |
05 · Practical
Practical
What this version includes — and what it does not
A ceremonial gran bollito can include far more cuts than are practical for a home batch. Testina, tail, zampino and other secondary pieces belong to the wider Piedmontese tradition. Their omission here is not a claim that they are unimportant; it is a deliberate reduction to five contrasting meats that can be managed in three pots and served to eight people.
Keeping meat hot without drying it
The worst holding method is to slice everything early and leave it exposed. Finished pieces should remain whole, moistened with hot broth, for as long as possible. Warm the serving platter and carve in a deliberate sequence immediately before eating.
Make-ahead
Bollito can be cooked one day ahead. For safe cooling, lift the meats from the broth, divide both meat and liquid into shallow containers and refrigerate promptly. The next day, reheat the meat gently in strained broth rather than boiling it a second time. Cotechino can also be reheated separately.
Other sauces
Bagnet verd is only one option. Bagnet ros, fruit mustard, plain mustard and cognà can all sit beside the same platter. The important point is contrast: rich boiled meats benefit from acidic, herbal, sweet-sharp or mustardy accompaniments.
Allergens and food safety
Bagnet verd contains fish from anchovy, egg and wheat/gluten from bread. Cotechino may contain additional declared allergens depending on the producer. Cook poultry to at least 74 °C and fresh cotechino or another raw sausage to at least 71 °C. The long-simmered beef and tongue will exceed their minimum safe temperatures well before they are tender. Large pots of broth cool slowly. Divide meat and broth into shallow containers and refrigerate within 2 hours rather than placing one deep, hot stockpot into the refrigerator. Use refrigerated leftovers within 3–4 days. Reheat meat to 74 °C and bring broth or gravy to a full boil when reheating.
06 · FAQ
FAQ
Is this the full gran bollito piemontese?
No. The ceremonial gran bollito is a much larger traditional arrangement of primary and secondary cuts. This is a home-scale bollito misto that preserves the mixed-meat method, contrasting textures, separate cotechino cook and sauce service.
Why add the meat to hot water?
For bollito, the meat is the principal result. Starting it in already hot aromatic water is a traditional way to prioritise the flavour and structure of the meat rather than maximise extraction into the broth.
Can all the meats go into one pot?
Not ideally. Poultry needs less time than the beef, and cotechino is much fattier and more strongly seasoned. Staggering the main pot and cooking cotechino separately gives better control.
07 · Nutrition
Nutrition
- Serving size
- mixed meats, about 100 g potatoes and bagnet verd
- Calories
- approximately 835 kcal
- Carbohydrates
- 27 g
- Protein
- 68 g
- Fat
- 50 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
- Sodium
- approximately 1,550 mg
- Serving size: mixed meats, about 100 g potatoes and bagnet verd - Calories: approximately 835 kcal - Carbohydrates: 27 g - Protein: 68 g - Fat: 50 g - Fibre: 3 g - Sodium: approximately 1,550 mg Values are approximate because each plate contains a different proportion of beef, tongue, poultry and cotechino. Cotechino and anchovy salinity can also shift the sodium figure substantially.