Beef goulash

Babiche Martens

There is nothing more satisfying than putting tough-looking meat into the oven for a couple of hours with an array of flavours and it coming out extremely tender and succulent. Walk away and return to those delightful smells. Sometimes I like to throw a green vegetable on top for the last 10 minutes, then stir it through. This adds colour and saves on washing up.

Ingredients

2 Tbsp	Olive oil
2	Onions, chopped roughly
4	Garlic cloves, crushed
2	Celery stalks, sliced
800 g	Beef rump steaks, or use stewing steak, cut into 3cm cubes (Main)
1 Tbsp	Paprika
½ bottle	Red wine
1 tin	Chopped tomatoes, approx. 420g
1 Tbsp	Balsamic vinegar
2 tsp	Brown sugar
1 stalk	Sage, leaves only
1 pinch	Chilli flakes
1 pottle	Sour cream, for serving

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 160C. In a large frying pan, heat the oil. Add the onions, garlic and celery, cooking for 5 minutes to soften, then place in a casserole dish. Add steak to the pan in batches to brown, then add to the onions.
2. Into the casserole dish, add the paprika, wine, tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, sage leaves, chilli, salt and pepper. Cover and place into the oven for 2½ hours, stir and check for tenderness. The best way is to pull a piece of meat apart. Cook for a further 30 minutes or until the meat falls apart with a fork.
3. Serve with a blob of sour cream and crunchy bread to soak up the juices.

More homely recipes from Angela

• Baked leeks with prosciutto and ciabatta crumble
• Viv's plum pud