Braised Mushroom & Beef Stew

Spend some time to creating this braised mushroom and beef stew on a free weekend and sit back, relax and reheat whenever you've had a long day at work.

Yield: 8 Servings
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 210 mins
Difficulty Level: 1/5

Ingredients

• 1½ kg gravy beef, trimmed, diced
• ¼ cup seasoned flour
• ¼ cup olive oil
• 500 g Swiss brown mushrooms
• 250 g streaky bacon, sliced
• 2 leeks, sliced
• 8 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1½ cups red wine
• 400 g can diced tomatoes
• 1½ cups beef stock
• 3 sprigs rosemary
• ½ cup chopped parsley, plus extra to serve
• Soft polenta, to serve

Steps

01. Toss beef in flour, shaking off excess. In a large flameproof casserole dish, brown beef in half oil 4-5 mins. Remove.

02. In the same pan, heat remaining oil on low. Saute mushrooms, bacon, leeks and garlic 8-10 mins. Add paprika and cook 1 min, stirring. Add wine to pain to deglaze.

03. Return beef to pan with tomatoes, stock and rosemary. Simmer, covered, 3 hours.

04. Discard rosemary stalks. Season. Stir parsley through. Serve half on polenta with extra parsley. Cool remaining and freeze (see tip).

Top Tip: Cool stew (without polenta) in fridge, then freeze for up to 2 months. Defrost in fridge overnight, bring to boil on stovetop on high. Simmer 15 mins until heated through.Photo: Bauersyndication.com.au/Rob Shaw