Put the beef bones, carrots, celery, leeks, onion, parsley stalks and peppercorns into a very large saucepan (it needs to hold the beef and the chicken at the same time).

Add cold water to cover and bring to the boil.

Skim the surface, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 1½ hours.

Add the brisket, return to just under the boil, then reduce to a gentle simmer.

Skim the surface and add salt.

Cover and cook very, very gently for 1 hour 15 minutes.

Add the chicken and cook for another 45 minutes.

The chicken should be cooked through (the juices that run from between the leg and the body should be clear, with no trace of pink).

Make sure the cooking is gentle the whole time.

To make the salsa verde, chop the herbs, then pound in a mortar and pestle with the other ingredients, gradually adding the oil (you can make this in the food processor, but it is nicer made by hand: it has a better, rougher texture).

Some cooks add the yolks of two hard-boiled eggs, to enrich and soften the salsa.

Heat the cotechino in a saucepan of boiling water in the pouch in which it came (it’s already cooked; you just need to heat it through, then remove it from its pouch).

Keep the beef and chicken in the pot covered with the cooking liquid until you want to serve, then slice the beef, cotechino and chicken, removing the chicken skin.

Either serve the meats in soup plates with broth spooned over (that’s what I do) or take them to the table on a platter and bring the broth in a tureen.

The important thing is not to have the meats out of the broth for longer than necessary, as they must stay moist.

Serve with the salsa verde and mostarda di frutta – a sweet and hot Italian condiment – on the side, and whole or halved carrots, quartered onions and celery sticks (simmered separately in stock).

Something starchy – white beans or Umbrian lentils – is usually served as well.