This beef ragout is comfort food at its finest
There's nothing more delightful than a comforting bowl of beef ragout. Not to be confused with the Italian Ragù, this warm hearty dish is a French-style slow-cooked beef stew loaded with vegetables. You can eat it on its own or have it with pasta, couscous, polenta or rice.
This recipe also features soft, chewy, cheddar herb dumplings. Arguably, the herb dumplings are the best, and we advise you to double up the dumpling portion if your guests are serious dumpling eaters. As for the beef, go for chuck steak. Chuck contains plenty of collagen and intramuscular fat, so the longer you cook it, the more tender and juicy the meat becomes. If you can't find chuck steak, any sort of beef labelled for stewing is good enough as the beef will eventually turn soft after the slow cooking process.
This beef ragout recipe is perfected, tried and tested in the Le Creuset Cast Iron Shallow Casserole. This cast iron casserole is designed to retain and distribute heat evenly, making it perfect to slow cook chunks of chewy beef until tender and soft. With its beautiful colour palette, this shallow casserole also adds an eye-catching charm to the table.
Beef Ragout Cheddar Herb Dumplings Recipe
Cook Time: 2 hours | Serves: 4-6 Ingredients: For the ragout:- 125g bacon, diced
- 1kg of beef ragout
- Salt and black pepper, freshly ground
- 1 large onion, cut into fine cubes
- 4 stalks of celery, finely diced
- 3 large carrots, cut into fine cubes
- 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
- 3 large potatoes or parsnips, diced
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 300ml red wine
- 1L of beef or chicken broth
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 sprigs of thyme
- Optional 1 tbsp starch
- 125g stone mushrooms, sliced
- Chopped parsley
- 250g flour
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 60g clarified butter
- 150g of grated cheddar cheese
- 150ml milk
- 2 tablespoons of chopped herbs such as parsley, chives and/or thyme
1. Begin by dicing the bacon and placing it into a Le Creuset Signature Shallow Casserole over medium heat. Once crispy, take out the bacon and set aside, reserving the oil/fat for the beef.
2. Season the beef with salt and pepper; on high heat, fry in the casserole with the hot bacon fat in portions. Once cooked, remove and set aside in a bowl.
3. Fry the onion, celery and carrot cubes in the same dish, adding a little oil if necessary. Finally, add the garlic and sauté until translucent.
4. Add the bay leaf and thyme and stir in the tomato paste.
5. Pour in the red wine and Worcestershire sauce and bring to the boil.
6. Place the fried beef ragout back into the roaster and fill up with the beef broth.
7. Bring to the boil again and continue to cook covered for 1½ hours on a low heat, and then add the potato cubes and let simmer for another ½ hour.
8. Remove the bay leaf and the thyme sprigs. If the sauce of the ragout is still too thin, stir the starch with a little cold water until smooth, and then add to the sauce and bring to the boil.
9. Fold in the finely chopped mushrooms and diced bacon.
10. Begin making the dumplings.
11. For the Cheddar herb dumplings: Preheat the oven to 180°C / 160°C fan / Gas Mark 4.
12. To make the dumplings, mix flour with baking powder, add the clarified butter in small cubes, and mix with the flour. Add the grated cheddar cheese and milk, and knead everything into a dough.
13. Shape the dough into 6-8 dumplings, spread them in a circle with a little space between them on the ragout. Bake the dumplings in the preheated oven without a lid for about 30 to 40 minutes until the dumplings are nicely browned and baked through.
14. Sprinkle the stew with parsley and serve.
Source: Le CreusetNext Read: Greek Lemon Chicken Soup
