Beef and Butternut Stew

Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 3 (325F, 170C).

Chop the onion (it doesn’t have to be too fine) and garlic and fry over medium heat in a small amount of olive oil. When the onion and garlic is done pop it into a Dutch oven or similar casserole dish.

Chop the beef into chunks of about 1 inch by 1/2 inch. Add a bit more olive oil to the same frying pan (the one you fried the onions and garlic in) and then brown the beef. When it is nicely browned, add the beef to the casserole dish with the onions and garlic.

Chop the butternut squash into chunks of about the same size as the beef. Add another glug of olive oil to the frying pan and brown the butternut cubes until they start to soften. Add these to the casserole dish as well.

Add all the rest of the ingredients (that’s the rosemary, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, cloves, tomatoes, tomato puree, vegetable stock, red wine, and salt and pepper) to the casserole dish. Mix everything together carefully in the casserole dish. At this point your kitchen may already be smelling delicious, but you’re going to have to wait a few hours…

Put the stew into the middle of the pre-heated oven, uncovered, for about four hours. Give it a stir every so often whilst it is cooking and add more stock or water if necessary. When the stew is cooked, serve with greens and fresh bread.