Winter has begun to set in. I was cold and hungry so I created this beauty! It's moments like these that I wished I had a Le Creuset casserole dish - But I don't so my large pot and corningware casserole dish inherited from my Gannie had to suffice!
I took 500g of chuck steak, cut it into 5 or so smaller chunks and removed most of the yukky thick bits of fat. I heated some Olive oil and butter in the large pot and browned off the meat. Once sealed, I put aside in a bowl to rest. In the same pan, I fried off 100g of short cut bacon that had been cut into strips. Lardons of pancetta would work even better than bacon for this. Preheat the oven to about 180 degrees C.
I diced 1 brown onion, 2 celery sticks, 1 large carrot and 3 cloves of fresh, crushed garlic and threw them into the pot. I cooked these down on a med-hi heat until they had softened.
I then added 2 cans of crushed tomatoes, 50g of tomato paste and just over a cup of red wine - I like red wine so the more the better for this recipe! Still over the med-hi heat I stirred and combined all of these ingredients and finally added 4 bay leaves and around 8 quartered button mushrooms into the mix.
I transferred this bubbling, maroon concoction into the casserole dish and I submerged the meat under the sauce, popped the lid on and chucked it into the oven and cranked up the heat to 200 degrees C.
I baked it for roughly one and a half hours - possibly 2 (I can't remember) I pulled it out of the oven and removed the chunks of meat. One at a time, I shredded the chunks of meat with 2 forks and added it back into the red sauce. Before serving, I threw in and wilted 2 modest handfuls of baby spinach and stirred it through.
I served it with curly fettuccine but I think any long wide pasta would work well with this sauce and finely grated Parmesan cheese.
It was everything I was hoping it was going to be - absolutely delicious, warm and comforting. I even enjoyed some left over sauce on toast for breakfast this morning :)
If you're in need of some warming, comfort food that is relatively healthy, this one's for you!
