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
- Heat oven to 160C/140C fan/gas 3.
- Put the celery, onion, carrots, bay and 1 thyme sprig in a casserole with 1 tbsp. oil and the butter.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
