Serves 8 | Prep 30mins | Cooking 3mins   Stuffatina Alla Romana

This Roman style beef stew is truly delicious and its long cooking time deserves a big pot full. It freezes brilliantly, so no need to worry about any leftover portions. The three hour cooking time is worth it just for the fabulous aroma! Great served over a jacket spud.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 1 Rasher Streaky Bacon
• 3lb Rump Steak (lean only)
• 250ml Red Wine
• 1 Head of Celery
• 100 Tomato Puree
• 2 tsp Lemon Juice
• 4 Cloves Garlic
• 1 Oxo Cube
• 1 tsp Ground Black Pepper

Method

1. Cut the bacon into small pieces, cut the beef into 1 inch cubes, crush garlic.
2. Heat olive oil in a large, heavy pan and gently fry bacon until golden.
3. Add beef and fry over a fairly high heat, stirring frequently, until browned.
4. Pour wine over beef, bring to the boil and keep it bubbling until liquid has reduced by half.
5. Finely chop 3 sticks of celery and add to the pot. Stir in tomato puree, lemon juice, garlic and black pepper.
6. Add oxo cube to 1 pint of boiling water to make stock. Pour enough of this into the pot to just cover meat.
7. Cover pot and simmer gently for 3 hours. Checking once in a while and topping up with more of the stock, if necessary to keep stock covered.
8. 20-30 minutes before serving chop the rest of the celery into 2 inch pieces. Boil in water until ‘al dente’, drain, and add to stew.

Tip – Stuffatina tastes even better if you make it a day in advance and refrigerate.

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