Homemade Beef Stew
An easy and hearty homemade beef stew made with fork tender grass fed chuck roast and Italian gnocchi dumplings, in a smoky paprika gravy with subtle hints of clove.
Prep Time:
Cook Time:
Total Time:
Ingredients:
| 3 tablespoons | olive oil |
| 2 tablespoons | butter |
| 3 pounds | chuck roast cut into 1? cubes organic grass fed |
| 1 | medium onion, diced |
| 3 cloves | garlic minced |
| 1/3 cup | all purpose flour |
| 1/3 cup | fresh italian parsley chopped |
| 6 sprigs | thyme |
| 3 leaves | bay |
| 4 | whole cloves |
| sea salt to taste | |
| freshly cracked black pepper to taste | |
| 1 tablespoon | smoked or sweet paprika |
| 1 pinch | red pepper flakes |
| 1 1/4 quart | water, filtered |
| 3/5 cup | frozen green peas- thawed |
| 1 cup | cherry tomato, diced |
| 3/4 pound | gnocchi or golden potato ( if you chose to use potatoes they need to be diced ) |
| 2 | carrots, sliced |
Directions:
Heat up a large cast iron dutch oven over medium flame.Â
?Season the beef cubes with sea salt and black pepper and toss to coat well with 2 tablespoon of olive oil. Working in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan, brown the beef in the hot pot. Transfer to a bowl and keep warm.
Add the 2 tbs butter and the olive oil to the pot and sautee the chopped onions until translucent (about 5 min). Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook one more min. Stir in the flour and paprika and cook for another minute or so making sure not to burn it.
Deglaze the pot with the water whisking as you add it to break up any lumps that might form. Bring to a simmer. (Deglazing is a fancy and intimidating word that means to pour some cold liquid into a very hot pan to get up all the brown bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Those brown bits are where all the flavors are.)
Add the beef cubes back to the pot, the bay leaf, whole cloves and thyme. Cover with a tight lid and allow it to simmer together for 2 1/2 hours stirring occasionally.
Add the potatoes and carrots to the stew, turn the flame up to med-low and simmer partially covered for another 20 minutes or so until the potatoes are cooked through. Remove from heat. If using potato gnocchi add them in the last 5 minutes of cooking or boil separately then add them to the stew.
Add the tomatoes and peas and give the stew a good stir. Cover with the lid for a few minutes until the tomatoes release their juices and the peas are just heated through.
Adjust seasonings to your taste and serve the homemade beef stew with crusty bruschetta and sprinkled with the fresh parsley.
OVEN METHOD
Preheat your oven to 375"F
Follow the above steps and after you added the beef cubes back into the stew cover with a tight lid and transfer the pot to the hot oven. Cook for 2 hours then add the carrots and potatoes or dumplings/gnocchi. Cook an additional 20 minutes or so until cooked through and the beef is fork tender.
SLOW COOKER/CROCK POT METHOD
Add the beef, onion, garlic, sea salt, potatoes, carrots, cloves, thyme and bay leaf to the slow cooker. In a bowl whisk together the water with the flour and paprika. Pour over the ingredients and drizzle with the olive oil. Cook on high for 5-6 hours or on low for 11 -12 hours.Â
Original recipe and photo source: ciaoflorentina.com
