Slow Cooker Winter Stew

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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. Crumble over the stock cubes or add the stock pots and stir, then season with pepper.
4. Cook on low for 8-10 hrs, or on high for 4 hrs.
5. 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.