Meat ragout

This tender meat stew is packed with flavour. It can be served accompanied with rice or mash, or used as a filling for a pie. Freeze now – use later.

Serves: 6-8
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: about 1 hour 30 minutes

• 30ml olive oil
• 1,5kg beef shin or other stewing meat (you can also use pork or ostrich goulash)
• 2 onions, chopped
• 125g streaky bacon, chopped (optional)
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 45ml cake flour • 1 green or yellow pepper, seeded and diced
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• 200ml red wine (or use stock)
• 300ml prepared beef or chicken stock
• 2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme (or 5ml dried thyme)
• 10ml paprika (or 5ml smoked paprika)
• 3 bay leaves
• 2 large carrots, peeled and diced

1 Heat the saucepan over a high heat. Add a little of the oil and brown a batch of the meat. Stir until the meat is well browned. Continue with the remaining meat and set aside.
2 Heat a little more oil and sauté the onion until soft. Add the bacon and fry for a few minutes until the bacon starts to brown. Add the garlic and sauté for one minute.
3 Add the flour and stir for one minute. Add all the remaining ingredients except the carrots and stir to combine. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 1 to 11⁄2 hours, or until the meat is tender. Season to taste with salt and black pepper and add the carrots 20 to 30 minutes before the cooking time is over. Add a little more stock if necessary.

More ideas
• Once defrosted, reheat until piping hot. Add a handful of freshly chopped Italian parsley or basil. Serve with seasonal vegetables, mashed potato, rice or couscous. • Use the mixture as a pie filling. Spoon the ragout into an ovenproof dish, cover with buttered sheets of phyllo pastry and bake until golden.
• Add 125ml cream and serve with pasta noodles or rice. Sprinkle with extra paprika.
• Add freshly chopped coriander, chopped fresh chillies and a can of drained red kidney beans for a Mexican flavour. Serve with tortillas.