Recipe: Braised oxtail with white beans

Oxtail with white beans. Photo / Doug Sherring

Grant Allen finds some local meat treats

Serves 4

This dish is even better if you make it the day before and reheat it gently before serving.
1kg oxtail. Ask your butcher to cut the tail into pieces across the bone, a little like an osso buco cut.

• flour
• salt and pepper
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 3 cups of mixed baby carrots, diced parsnips, celery, onion, fennel, leeks (you don't have to use all of these vegetables, use whatever you have on hand)
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 cups of beef stock
• 400g can of chopped tomatoes in juice
• 400g can of white beans (butter or haricot) , drained and rinsed
• Parsley, chopped
• Pre-heat the oven to 180C

1. Season the flour with salt and pepper and dust each piece of oxtail. In a heavy-based frying pan, heat the olive oil and once hot, brown the oxtail pieces. Do this in batches so you don't crowd the pan and add more oil if needed. Set these aside.

2. In the same pan, add another tablespoon of oil and soften the vegetables, melting them a little but not colouring them. Once done, layer the vegetables in the base of a baking dish and place the browned oxtail on top.

3. Return the vegetable frypan to the element, stir in the red wine and beef stock scraping up all the oxtail and vegetable residue from the base of the pan as you bring it to the boil.

4. Add the tinned tomatoes and stir together. Pour over the oxtails and vegetables in the baking dish.

5. Cover the dish with tin foil and braise in the medium oven for one hour. Remove the foil, add the white beans. Return to the oven, uncovered, turn down the temperature to 160C. Cook for a further hour, so that the liquid reduces and thickens to a saucy consistancy.

Check for seasoning, scatter with chopped parsley and serve with a good crusty bread to mop up the juices.