Simply Beef and Lamb - #LivePeasant - Slow Cooked Beef with Gnocchi

Simply Beef and Lamb are promoting their campaign #LivePeasant encouraging people to cook simple, tasty and nutritious meals for their families. Their recipes can be done in a slow cooker or cooked slowly on the hob or in the oven on a low temperature.

Slow cooked stews and casseroles are comfort family food, perfect for any time of the year but essentially perfect for these days of Spring when you want to start spending a little more time outside and as the wind turns to chilly come inside to a lovely warming supper. Here is their recipe for:-

Slow cooked Beef with Gnocchi                                                                      Serves 4
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 2 - 2 1/2 hours

Ingredients:
450gm lean boneless shin or chuck steak, cut into 2.5cm cubes
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2.5ml cayenne pepper (optional)
5ml paprika
30ml rapeseed oil
1 large onion, peeled and choopped
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
2 x 400gm cans of chopped tomatoes
200ml good, hot vegetable stock
1 cinnamon stick, halved
15ml sugar
15ml tomato puree
1 x 400gm pack fresh gnocchi
30ml freshly chopped parsley to garnish

Method:
1. Place the beef in a large plastic zip lock food bag.

Add the salt&pepper, cayenne pepper and paprika; seal, shake well to coat the beef in the spices.

2. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan.

3. Cook the beef for 4-5 minutes in batches until brown on all sides. Transfer to a 1.7L heatproof casserole pot.

4. In the same frying pan, cook the onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes. Spoon into the casserole pot.

5. Add the tomatoes and stock as well as cinnamon, sugar and tomato puree. Bring this to the boil, add to the casserole pot, cover and cook on a low heat in the oven for 2-2.5 hours.

6. 10 minutes before the end of the cooking time add the gnocchi.

7. Garnish with the parsley and serve with crusty bread.

Tip: If you prefer substitute the gnocchi for freshly cooked pasta shapes.

This is a sponsored post. All photos and opinions are my own.