Braised cabbage & carrots
A simple, healthy vegetable side dish that can be left to slow cook as you prepare your main dish
Next level beef stew & dumplings
Serves 6
More effort
Prep:
Cook:
Add this rich, comforting and clever beef stew and dumplings one-pot to your recipe repertoire. It's a super satisfying family dinner on winter nights
Skip to ingredients
- 1.2kg stewing beef(such as chuck or shin), cut into large chunks (do this yourself or ask your butcher)
- 3 tbsp sunflower oil
- 5 carrotscut into large chunks
- 1 large or 2 small onionsroughly chopped
- 3 celery stickschopped
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 1 tsp Marmite
- ½ tsp caster sugar
- 440ml stout
- small bunch of thyme
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 500ml beef stock
- small handful of parsleyto serve
For the dumplings
- 400g self-raising flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp mustard powder
- 1 tsp onion granules
- 100g cold butterdiced
- 125g cheesegrated (we used a mixture of cheddar, parmesan and red leicester)
- bunch of thymeleaves picked
- 150ml milkplus extra for brushing
Nutrition: Per serving
- kcal915
- fat43g
- saturates21g
- carbs68g
- sugars10g
- fibre8g
- protein55g
- salt2.1g
Method
step 1
Heat the oven to 150C/130C fan/gas 2. Season the beef well with salt and pepper. Heat half the oil in a shallow 30cm flameproof casserole over a high heat and brown the beef in batches until well coloured, lifting out onto a plate as you go. Reduce the heat, pour in the remaining oil and fry the carrots, onion and celery for 10 mins until softened and lightly coloured. Stir through the tomato purée and flour, cook for 1 min, then stir in the Marmite and sugar.
step 2
Pour in the stout and let it bubble for 5 mins, scraping up any sticky bits from the base of the pan. Return the beef and any resting juices to the pan, add the thyme and bay, then add the Worcestershire sauce and stock. Bring to a simmer, stirring well, then cover, transfer to the oven and cook for 2 hrs 30 mins-3 hrs, stirring once or twice, until the beef is fork-tender.
step 3
While the stew cooks, make the dumplings. Tip the flour, baking powder, mustard powder, onion granules and a pinch of salt into a bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, then stir through most of the cheese and all the thyme. Stir in the milk to bring it together into a soft dough. Shape into 12 lime-sized balls, then chill until ready to cook.
step 4
Uncover the stew and taste for seasoning – it should be rich, savoury and slightly sweet. The sauce should be glossy and coating the meat and vegetables; if it looks thin, simmer on the hob for a few minutes, uncovered, to reduce and thicken.
step 5
Turn the oven up to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Arrange the dumplings on top of the stew in a circle around the edge. Lightly brush over some milk, then sprinkle over the remaining cheese and bake, uncovered, for 25-30 mins until the dumplings are puffed up, golden and crisp on top. Sprinkle with parsley if you have it, and serve.
