Brilliant basics
Beef stew topped with herby dumplings
Beef stew and dumplings
3 HOURS 30 MINUTES | SERVES 4 | EASY
olive oil 2 tbsp, plus extra for frying (optional)
plain flour 3 tbsp
braising beef steak 1kg, cut into 4cm pieces onion 1, diced
carrots 2, diced
celery 2 sticks, diced
bay leaf 1
tomato purée 2 tbsp
beef stock 1 litre
DUMPLINGS
plain flour 125g, plus extra for dusting
baking powder 1 tsp
flat-leaf parsley a handful, finely chopped, plus extra to serve (optional)
suet 60g
1
Heat the oil in a casserole over a medium-high heat. Tip the flour onto a plate and season well.
Toss each piece of beef in the flour until well coated. Fry in batches, adding more oil if needed, for 4-5 minutes or until golden, scooping out the cooked pieces onto a plate. 2
Heat the oven to 160C/ fan 140C/gas 3. Tip the veg and bay leaf into the casserole with a pinch of salt and cook for 10 minutes, scraping the bottom, until softened slightly. Stir in the tomato purée and any of the remaining seasoned flour.
Cook for another minute before adding the stock and browned beef. Bring to the boil, put on a lid and cook in the oven for 2 hours. Remove the lid for 30 minutes more, or until the beef is meltingly tender and the gravy has thickened. 3
To make the dumplings, mix together the ingredients with plenty of seasoning and 80-100ml of water to make a dough. Form into eight balls, then dust lightly with flour and roll again to neaten. Nestle into the top of the stew. Return to the oven, uncovered, for 30 minutes until the dumplings are cooked through and golden. Serve scattered with more parsley, if you like.
PER SERVING 773 kcals | fat 38.7G saturates 16.5G | carbs 43.7G sugars 5.4G fibre 5.6G protein 59.6G salt 1.2G