Jools’s Favourite Beef Stew by Jamie Oliver

4 Servings
Beef
British
Beef British

1 • ve oil
1 • a knob of ter
1 • 1 on peeled and chopped
1 • a handful of fresh e leaves
1 • 800g/13lb stewing ak or beef skirt cut into 5cm/2 inch pieces
1 • sea salt and freshly ground ck pepper
1 • ur to dust
1 • 2 snips peeled and quartered
1 • 4 rots peeled and halved
1 • 1 a ternut squash halved, deseeded and roughly diced
• optional: a handful of usalem artichokes, pee
1 • 500g/1lb 2oz small atoes
1 • 2 tablespoons ato purée
1 • 1 a bottle of wine
1 • 285ml/1 pint beef or vegetable ck
1 • zest of 1 on finely grated
1 • a handful of emary leaves picked
1 • 1 clove of lic peeled and finely chopped

The great thing about this stew is that it gets put together very quickly, and this is partly to do with the fact that no time is spent browning the meat. Even though this goes against all my training, I experimented with two batches of meat – I browned one and put the other straight into the pot. The latter turned out to be the sweeter and cleaner-tasting, so I’ve stopped browning the meat for most of my stews these days. Preheat the oven to 160oC/300oF/gas 2. Put a little oil and your knob of butter into an appropriately sized pot or casserole pan. Add your onion and all the sage leaves and fry for 3 or 4 minutes. Toss the meat in a little seasoned flour, then add it to the pan with all the vegetables, the tomato purée, wine and stock, and gently stir together. Season generously with freshly ground black pepper and just a little salt. Bring to the boil, place a lid on top, then cook in the preheated oven until the meat is tender. Sometimes this takes 3 hours, sometimes 4 – it depends on what cut of meat you’re using and how fresh it is. The only way to test is to mash up a piece of meat and if it falls apart easily it’s ready. Once it’s cooked, you can turn the oven down to about 110°C/225°F/gas 1 and just hold it there until you’re ready to eat. The best way to serve this is by ladling big spoonfuls into bowls, accompanied by a glass of French red wine and some really fresh, warmed bread. Mix the lemon zest, chopped rosemary and garlic together and sprinkle over the stew before eating. Just the smallest amount will make a world of difference – as soon as it hits the hot stew it will release an amazing fragrance.


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