Jenny Bristow’s Spiced Beef Casserole

This is one of my favourite dishes — call it a casserole or a stew, it is simply a great dish for entertaining, or when you want to cook something packed with flavour and spices.

Other ingredients can also be added, such as walnuts and pomegranate seeds for extra texture, but the colours and flavours in this dish are just so good.

Serve with rice or sweet potatoes.

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

450g steak (finely shredded) 2 onions (white or red and cut into fine slices)

2 carrots (coarsely grated) 3 oranges (juice and rind, coarsely grated)

200g spinach leaves

2 cardamom pods (seeds only) 25g almonds (strips)

25g pistachio nuts (chopped coarsely)

200g baby tomatoes

1 cinnamon stick

4 dsp balsamic vinegar

½ tsp honey

250ml beef stock cube pinch paprika pepper salt and pepper

To serve: coriander or flat Italian parsley

METHOD

Cut the beef into fine strips and toss with a hint of paprika pepper.

Put the beef strips in a large casserole pan and cook well until they are golden, well sealed and packed with flavour.

Draw the beef to the side, then add the sliced onion to the same pan — add a little oil if needed and cook until the onions are well cooked but still translucent.

In a separate pan, gently cook, over a low heat, the whole baby tomatoes with balsamic vinegar until softened and almost caramelised.

Grate or cut carrots into fine strips. Grate the coarse zest from the oranges, squeeze the juice from the oranges, remove the seeds from the cardamom pods and chop the nuts.

To the beef and onion mixture add the cinnamon stick, cardamom, half of the orange peel, juice, grated carrot, roasted baby tomatoes, honey and seasoning.

Continue cooking over a medium heat for 15-20 minutes to intensify the flavours without the addition of the stock.

Next, add the stock and either cook on the hob or in the oven at 200°/400°F for 45 minutes. Cooking in the oven can be economical if making a dessert or other dishes at the same time.

Finally, add the spinach leaves, rest of orange peel, seasoning, half pistachio nuts and half almonds.

Heat through for four to five minutes.

Remove and serve garnished with coriander and the remainder of the nuts.