There is something so utterly comforting about a delicious bowl of slow cooked casserole. With tender pieces of beef and an array of mixed root veggies all smothered in a rich, flavour packed gravy, it’s absolute heaven on a cold Winter’s night. We like to serve our casserole with creamy (and I mean CREAMY) mashed potatoes or crusty french bread which mops up the gravy perfectly.
There’s nothing pretentious about this casserole, it’s just good old fashioned goodness. Enjoy with a glass of red or a hearty Guinness, loosen your belt and enjoy.
1.5kg beef chuck steak cut into decent sized cubes
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup olive oil
2 or 3 brown onions (size dependant on how much you like onions) sliced into wedges
4 large carrots cut into large chunks
2 sticks celery cut into large chunks
3 large parsnips cut into chunks
2 medium Swedes cut into chunks
4 large cloves garlic crushed
4 bay leaves
12 stalks fresh thyme
1/4 cup tomato paste
400g can crushed tomatoes
1 cup stock
Ground black pepper
Coat beef chunks liberally with flour. Heat oil in slow cooker or frying pan and lightly brown the beef. Remove beef and add all the veggies, garlic and cook off until onion starts to soften. Return the beef to cooker. Add Tomato paste, tinned tomatoes and stock. Stir to combine, add thyme and bay leaves. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. DO NOT OVER STIR. When cooked through, remove thyme and bay leaves, check the seasoning and serve. The casserole below had some left over baby peas added a couple of minutes before serving.
If you wish to serve with mashed potatoes, add butter, an egg and a dollop of sour cream when mashing to make it extra creamy and season well, then promise yourself to do extra gardening, jogging or dog walking the next day …. it won’t happen but you’ll feel so much better about the extra calories !!
Eat.drink.andbe.Mary 