Mushroom and Beef Casserole with Gnocchi Dumplings

SERVES: 4

Ingredients:

400g (14oz) lean braising steak, diced
300g (10oz)  button mushrooms
25g (10oz) dried porcini mushrooms (optional, but they add an intense mushroom flavour)
1 1/2 tablespoons red onion marmalade
1/2 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon olive oil
450ml (3/4 pint or 16fl oz) beef or vegetable stock
150ml (1/3 pint or 6fl oz) red wine (optional, can be replaced with additional stock)
2 cloves garlic, peeled but not chopped
250g potato gnocchi
A little fresh rosemary to garnish (if you don’t have fresh, use dried but don’t omit)

Recipe Summary

This is an entirely ‘no-chop’, one-pot casserole if you buy your meat ready diced. The red onion marmalade makes an easy replacement for the usual onion base and a mixture of button mushrooms and dried porcini adds richness. I love dumplings but the traditional suet-rich ones are very high in saturated fat so I’ve swapped them for little potato gnocchi, which I think are actually even better in this dish. If you prefer, you could throw some new potatoes in for the last 40 minutes of cooking, but do give the gnocchi a try.

Pick lean, braising steak to make this casserole and cook it on a low, slow heat to ensure it is mouth-meltingly tender. My Mum introduced me to the idea that you don’t need to brown your meat to make a good stew or casserole. Having tried both gently browning the meat first and cooking the casserole without searing the meat, I think it is tenderer when you don’t brown it so you can feel justified in cutting out that step.

If you’d like to make a vegetarian version of this, simply omit the beef, reduce the cooking time by half and double the amount of gnocchi for a tasty mushroom stew.

Method:

Preheat oven to 120C/250F.

Pour the olive oil into a medium sized casserole dish and set on a low heat. Add the beef and red onion marmalade, then sprinkle over the flour and stir to coat everything evenly.

Tip in the button mushrooms and dried porcini then pour over the wine and stock. Stir well, cover and bring to a low simmer. Transfer the casserole dish to the oven and bake for 3 hours or until the meat breaks apart with a fork.

Remove the casserole from the oven and add the potato gnocchi. Return to the oven for 5 minutes and then serve with a sprinkle of fresh rosemary. The casserole is particularly nice served with wilted spinach and carrots.