Easy Beef Stew

Type:

Categories:

Soups, Meat

Serves:

4/5 Servings

About the Recipe:

If you are feeling cold, coming down with something, or just tired and need to make something quick and nutritious, try this. It is also a great base to add whatever vegetable you may have left poking around at the back of the fridge so you are not a food waster!

Ingredients:

4/5 tbsp olive oil

1 yellow onion, diced

2 celery sticks, diced

2 large carrots, cut into chunky rounds

4 cloves of garlic, grated or chopped fine

1 1b 5 oz/ or 650 g stewing steak, cut into cubes

1/2 tbsp whole wheat flour, or any unrefined flour

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp tomato paste

1 can chopped tomatoes

2 potatoes, peeled and chopped roughly (can also use parsnips, peeled and cut into rounds)

1 cup of passata or tomato sauce

1 ½ cups/ or 250 ml chicken broth

1 tbsp dried oregano

Salt and pepper

Method:

Cut your veggies and steak.

In a large bowl add your flour and steak cubes with a bit of salt and pepper to season.

Toss well to coat.

In a large pot, heat the oil.

Add the onion and celery and cook on very low heat for about five minutes, stirring softly.

Add the carrots and garlic, cooking another few minutes.

Add the beef.

Add a little more oil if needed, but keep the heat never above medium, or the garlic will burn.

Brown the meat on all sides.

Add the tomato paste and cook until sticky, or about 3 minutes.

Add all the remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer.

Cover and cook on a low medium simmer, stirring occasionally, for about an hour, or until meat is tender and cooked through.

Season well with salt and pepper, leaving this to the end. The reason being that as the soup reduces, the flavors will become more concentrated.

*Traditionally this recipe calls for red wine, but I have replaced this with balsamic and chicken broth. You could always add this back in, and just reduce the amount of broth used. The alcohol will cook off while cooking, which is just used to enhance the flavor.

*To make this more nutritious, add more vegetables about 20 minutes before the final cooking time, or about halfway through. This could be frozen peas, chopped fresh broccoli florets, cauliflower florets, zucchini/corgette rounds, cubed butternut squash, or any seasonal vegetable you fancy. Just make sure to NOT add them at the beginning as they will become too soft by the end.

*This freezes very well. Section off into 1 serving size containers and defrost overnight in fridge to eat the following day.