Red wine gravy

Ingredients

1 red onion, diced 1 small carrot 1 celery stick 2tbsp olive oil 3 garlic cloves 1 sprig fresh rosemary 2 sprigs fresh thyme 350ml red wine 1 litre vegetable stock 3tbsp cornflour 6tbsp room-temperature water 1tbsp tomato purée 1tsp yeast extract (e.g. Marmite) 1tsp English mustard 1tsp dark brown sugar ½tsp salt ½tsp black pepper

Method

1.Put a deep frying pan with a lid on a medium heat.

2.Peel and finely dice the red onion, carrot and celery, keeping them separate on the chopping board.

3.Pour the olive oil into the hot pan. Add the onion and cook for two minutes. Peel and crush the garlic cloves into the pan and stir everything together. Cook until you’ve released the aroma of the garlic.

4.Add the diced carrot and celery and the rosemary and thyme sprigs. Stir everything together for about seven minutes, until the vegetables are well softened. Pour in the red wine and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.

5.Pour the vegetable stock into the pan. Turn up the heat, until it’s bubbling nicely, then reduce to a gentle simmer, put the lid on and cook for ten minutes.

6. Take the pan off the heat and strain the liquid into a bowl through a sieve, so that you’re left with a clear stock. Pour it back into the pan and put it back on the heat.

7.Put the cornflour into a small glass. Add the water and mix together with a fork, stirring really well to ensure there are no lumps.

8.Add the cornflour mixture to the pan and whisk continuously while the gravy bubbles away for five minutes, until you have a nice, thick consistency. Add the tomato purée, yeast extract, mustard, sugar, salt and pepper and stir until well mixed. Pour the gravy into a jug ready to serve.