This hearty beef and borlotti stew is a meld of an old Greek dish and an Italian stew. A great one pot favourite.
A rich and aromatic one pot meal made with gently cooked beef and topped with a fresh and zingy rocket dressing. Chuck steak is taken from the shoulder and neck of the cow which traditionally makes it a little tough, but if cooked down slowly it is tender and delicious - and much cheaper than other cuts of steak. Deglazing pans that you have seared meat in is a great way to create an easy and unctuous sauce. It achieves this by emulsifying any residual fat and releasing flavour from the browned meat (fronds) that is left on the bottom of the pan. This would go well with a hunk of sourdough bread or this couscous salad.
Method
- Toast the cumin and coriander seeds and grind to a powder. Mix with the chipotle paste and rub this spice mix on to the beef.
- Heat the olive oil in a large ovenproof pan and fry the beef to seal it. Set to one side.
- In the same pan, fry the onions and garlic until they are starting to caramelise. Deglaze the pan with the red wine and then add the beef back in with the potatoes, borlotti beans, stock and chopped herbs.
- Place in the oven at 160C for an hour.
- Coat the tomatoes with 1tbsp of the olive oil, the salt and the lemon juice.
- To make the dressing: Using a blender, blitz the, rocket, mustard and vinegar with 20ml water. On a high speed add all the oil.
- Mix the tomatoes and the rocket dressing and then spoon them over the stew as it’s being served.
Ingredients
- 1tbsp cumin seeds
- 1tbsp coriander seeds
- 1tsp chipotle paste
- 800g beef chuck steak
- 4tbsp virgin olive oil
- 500ml red wine
- 2 onions, diced
- 10 cloves garlic
- 400g potatoes, chopped into large cubes
- 1x 400g tin borlotti beans
- 2ltrs beef stock
- 2 bay leaves
- small handful basil leaves, roughly chopped
- 1 sprig parsley, roughly chopped
- 300g cherry tomatoes, blanched and peeled
- For the dressing:
- 100ml olive oil
- 1/2tsp salt
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 70g rocket
- 2tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- You will need: a large oven-proof pan
Top Tip for making Braised beef and borlotti beans
Toast spices for better flavour - the heat draws out their aromas.
Chef, Food Writer, and Podcast Host Elişa Roche trained under Jamie Oliver as part of Channel 4 show Jamie's Kitchen before working at some of London's best restaurants. She has cooked at No10 Downing Street and for celebrities including Oprah Winfrey, U2, and Sir Paul McCartney.
She now hosts a podcast about careers in the food industry and loves to mentor newcomers. Before that, Elişa worked as Group Food Director and TI Media and then Future, commissioning, art directing, and producing food and drinks content across more than 20 magazines and their associated websites and special issues.