Ingredients
- 500 grams rump or chuck steak, cut into 2cm cubes
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 capsicums
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 red chilli, thinly sliced
- 500 ml tomato passata
- 250 ml beef stock
- 100 ml red wine
- fresh basil and coriander, to garnish
- 500 grams gnocchi
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 °C. Place the diced beef in a large mixing bowl with the spices and salt and pepper. Toss well to ensure the beef is evenly coated.
- Heat half the oil in a large, heavy-based casserole dish over a medium heat. When the oil is hot, brown the beef in batches. Transfer the browned beef to a plate.
- Cook the capsicums on a hotplate element until black and charred all over. Transfer to a bowl and cover with plastic wrap. After 15 minutes, peel off the skin and slice away the seeds and pith. Place the roasted capsicum in a food processor and blitz to a rough puree.
- Add the rest of the oil to the casserole dish and lower the heat. Add the onions, garlic and chilli and saute gently for 2-3 minutes. Add the passata sauce, pureed peppers, stock and wine. Bring to the boil.
- Return the beef to the casserole dish and transfer to the oven. Cook, covered, for 2 hours.
- Serve with cooked gnocchi mixed though and fresh basil and coriander sprinkled over the top.
With cooler weather on the way, there is nothing more warming to the soul than a good hearty casserole. This beef ragu has been one of my favorite recipes to cook for many years. I love it because it tastes incredibly awesome, but it also has the added benefit that it’s so easy to make, and doesn’t leave much mess in the kitchen.
Preparing the Ragu
To start, gather all your ingredients and get everything prepped.
Ensure that your chilli, garlic and onion have been diced, and your beef has been cut into cubes. It’s definitely cheaper to buy a nice piece of meat and to cut it yourself. But a lot of butches and supermarkets these days have pre-diced meat that can definitely help cut down the prep time.
Place your capsicums over a heat element and char them all over. Once charred, place in a bowl and cover with cling wrap. After resting for about 15 minutes, the skin should just easily fall off, leaving a lovely roasted capsicum to use.
Remove the seeds and pith from the middle of the capsicum and then blitz to form a rough puree. Use either a stick blender or a food processor to blitz the capsicum, depending on what you have available.
The last part of the prep work is to take the beef and mix it with all those fragrant spices and some salt and pepper.
Cooking the Ragu
These days you can buy some awesome casserole dishes that go in the oven, but can also be used on the stove. I have a lovely blue Le Creuset dish that was gifted to me over 15 years ago that is perfect for this dish. If you don’t have a fancy casserole dish like this, then you can still complete the recipe by using a fry pan to cook the stove top component to this dish.
Heat your casserole dish, add the oil and then add some of the beef. You will want to do this in batches because if you add all the beef at once, you will drop the temperature too much. Do this and you will end up just stewing the meat, which becomes tough and chewy. We want to brown the meat on the outside, helping to trap the juices in, leading to lovely moist tender beef. At this point it doesn’t matter if the beef isn’t cooked all the way through, as it’s about to spend a good couple of hours slow cooking in the oven.
The cooked beef should be transferred to a bowl while you prepare the rest of the dish. Take the onions, garlic and chilli and saute them in a bit more oil in the casserole dish. To finish you then add the passata sauce, pureed capsicums, stock and wine and bring it all to the boil.
Add the beef and then transfer the casserole dish to the oven to cook for 2 hours. Ensure the casserole dish is covered while in the oven or your beef will dry out and become tough and chewy.
Serving the Ragu
I love to serve this ragu with some freshly cooked gnocchi mixed through out it. I use the packet stuff, but if your feeling adventurous and have the time then find a recipe and give it a go to make your own gnocchi. About 15 minutes before the ragu is ready I typically put my water on and cook the gnocchi. When the ragu is ready it’s then just a simple matter of stirring the gnocchi through the ragu and your meal is ready.
You could also serve with mash potato instead or some fresh crusty bread. Garnish with some freshly chopped basil and coriander over the top. Some grated parmesan can also do wonders for the dish.
