Joint of beef:
Sear the meat on all sides in a frying pan. Set aside in a roasting tin and season. Put the root vegetables in the pan and fry until browned. Add the tomato purée and continue to cook for a couple of minutes. Quench with Lagrein and reduce. Pour beef stock over everything and then add to the meat in the roasting tin. Add herbs as desired and according to taste. Cover and braise in the oven until tender for approx. 2 hrs at around 150 ºC. Turn the meat occasionally. As soon as the meat is cooked, remove from the roasting tin and finish making the gravy. To do this, everything is pressed through a conical sieve. If necessary, the gravy can be thickened by adding a little cornflour.
In the meantime, bring 1 litre of water to the boil and season with herb salt, stir in ¼ kg polenta (I prefer a coarse polenta, e.g. Bramata or Taragna) and simmer over a low heat for 30-40 minutes. Stir repeatedly with the whisk.
Onions:
Peel and halve 2 onions. Fry in a frying pan with the cut side facing down. Caramelise with sugar, quench with white wine and then pour on a little of the gravy from the roasting tin and allow to boil down.
Slice the remaining onions into thin rings, dip in flour and then fry in hot fat until golden brown.
Finishing:
Cut the joint into slices and add a little of the hot gravy. Place the polenta on the plate using a small mould. Top with the meat and gravy. Garnish with glazed and fried onions.