If you are running short of time, you can put everything in the slow cooker without frying it first and simply switch it on to enjoy a warming stew at the end of the day. This recipe is suitable for freezing.
Ingredients
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 400g pumpkin
- 3 carrots, halved and cut into chunks
- 3 potatoes
- 2 bay leaves
- ½ pack thyme
- 1 tsp paprika
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 low salt beef stock cubes or stock pots
- 900g diced beef
- 2 tsp cornflour (optional)
- ½ small bunch parsley, chopped
Method
- Add 1 tbsp oil to a frying pan, and fry the beef in batches until it is well browned, then add to the slow cooker.
- Fry the onion and celery in 1 tbsp oil over a low heat until they start to soften. Add the pumpkin, carrots, potato, bay leaves, thyme and paprika, fry for 2 mins, stir in the purée and Worcestershire sauce, add 600ml boiling water, stir and tip everything into a slow cooker.
- Crumble over the stock cubes or add the stock pots and stir, then season with pepper.
- Cook on low for 8-10 hrs, or on high for 4 hrs.
- If you want to thicken the gravy, mix the cornflour with a splash of cold water to make a paste, then stir in 2 tbsp of the liquid from the slow cooker. Tip back into the slow cooker, stir and cook for a further 30 mins on high. Stir in the parsley and serve.
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