Hearty Beef Stew

Comfort food is definitely on the menu this week. Fire up your oven or dust off your slow cooker and indulge in a one pot wonder.

Ingredients

2 celery sticks, thickly sliced
1 onion, chopped
2 really big carrots halved lengthways then very chunkily sliced
5 bay leaves
3 sprigs thyme
1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 tbsp. butter
2 tbsp. plain flour
2 tbsp. tomato purée
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 beef stock cubes, crumbled
850g stewing beef (featherblade or brisket works nicely), cut into nice large chunks

 Method

1. Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3.
2. Put the celery, onion, carrots, bay and 1 thyme sprig in a casserole with 1 tbsp. oil and the butter.
3. Soften for 10 mins, then stir in the flour until it doesn’t look dusty anymore, followed by the tomato purée, Worcestershire sauce and beef stock cubes.
4. Gradually stir in 600ml hot water, then tip in the beef and bring to a gentle simmer. Cover and put in the oven for 2hrs 30 mins, then uncover and cook for 30mins – 1hr more until the meat is really tender and the sauce is thickened.
5. If using a slow cooker reduce the amount of hot water by half and cook for 4 to 6 hours on high or 8 to 12 hours on low.