One of my favourite Winter dishes is without doubt a Beef Stew. It fills me with nostalgia and is a hearty dish that is loved by all and even more so if served with warm crusty fresh bread rolls and a full-bodied red wine.

I personally love cooking with Le Crueset dishes. They are such versatile dishes and always give a beautiful result to food that is cooked in them. I also love how you can bring them from oven to table and can serve your guests directly from the dish.

A beef stew is a very easy dish to cook and is such a filling and nutritious meal in one simple bowl.

Ingredients:

2 onions (chopped roughly)

5 carrots (peeled & halved)

4 parsnips (peeled & halved)

Fresh sage

Butter

500g peeled, small potatoes

700g beef (stewing beef cut into chunks)

300mls beef stock

1/2 bottle red wine

4tbls tomato puree

Method:

• Fry off the onion & sage in butter on a medium heat for about 4 minutes in the Le Crueset dish
• Roll the chunks of beef in seasoned flour and add to the dish to brown on all sides
• Add the stock, wine, tomato puree, vegetables & potatoes (add more stock if needed)
• Bring to the boil – then cover and transfer to a pre-heated oven on 160 degrees
• Cook for 3 hours (could be longer and up to 4 hours) – the timing depends on the cuts of meat and the freshness of meat – the guide for when it is ready is when you take out some meat and it falls away easily

Serve with some fresh crusty bread rolls and some full-bodied red wine.