Wood fired hearty beef stew

Method

Brrrr it’s cold outside. Nothing tastes better than a yummy slow-cooked stew full of flavour during the chilly winter months. Packed full of delicious chunky vegetables this wood fired stew will go down a treat and it tastes even better the next day. Serve it with some warm crusty wood fired bread.

First things first. Fire up your Amigo wood fired oven to reach its maximum temperature (550c). Then allow to cool to approx. 180c.

• Peel and roughly chop the onion, peel and quarter the parsnips and peel and halve the carrots. Deseed and roughly dice the squash. Pick the sage leaves.
• Heat a little oil and the butter in a casserole pan on a medium heat, add the onion and sage leaves, then fry for 3 to 4 minutes.
• Meanwhile, toss the meat in a little seasoned flour, then add it to the pan with all the vegetables (apart from squash), the tomato purée, wine and stock, then gently stir together. Season generously with black pepper and just a little sea salt.
• Bring to the boil, place a lid on top (well sealed otherwise the liquid evaporates and burns the stew) . Then place in your Amigo wood fired oven for 1 hour,. Remove the stew, stir well and add the butternut squash. Return back to the oven until the meat is tender – sometimes this takes 2 to 3 hours,– it depends on what cut of meat you’re using and how fresh it is. The only way to test is to mash up a piece of meat and if it falls apart easily it’s ready.
• Finely grate the lemon zest, pick and finely chop the rosemary and peel and finely chop the garlic, then mix together and sprinkle over the stew before serving. Just the smallest amount will make a world of difference – as soon as it hits the hot stew it will release an amazing fragrance.