Family Beef Stew

A mainstay of the family table - this is the sort of dish we'd cook up in batches when we had very little children, happy in the knowledge that we'd covered all bases (not one but six vegetables! All different coloured! No Tiny Teddies!), blitzing a bowlful for the baby, mixing some with pasta for the toddler and dishing up ours with a baked potato and a hefty glass of red.  First we oven roast the carrots and celery, tossed with olive oil and salt until golden and tender.  Then we cook onion and garlic with diced beef, adding veal stock, tomatoes, herbs and lemon zest, and braise until the beef is tender.  The dish is finished with a final flurry of green peas.

Beef, thyme, garlic, lemon zest, rosemary, carrots, celery, olive oil, salt, onion, veal stock (veal bones, celery, onion, carrots, garlic, peppercorns, parsley), tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, peas.

 

Feel free to bulk the stew up with a handful of cooked pearl barley, quinoa or any other grain you may have in the pantry, or simply reheat and serve with a leafy green salad, green beans, buttered mash or a baked potato.