I find dishes like this great on days when I am busy in the afternoon. I make it during the day, and warm it up when I get home. I always make enough for the next day for dinner, or my kids like it in their lunchbox at school.
This goes well with trganci, gnocchi, mashed potato or pasta.
Recipe
1/4 cup sunflower oil
1/4 cup olive oil
3 medium onions, diced
4 cloves garlic, peeled, leave whole
1 capsicum, cut into 4 wedges
1/2 cup water
3-4 pieces (2kg) chuck steak, cut into a large dice
30g dried porcini mushrooms
12 button or swiss brown mushrooms, quartered or 5-6 asparagus spears, sliced
2 bay leaves
6-8 sage leaves
2 small red chillies, sliced in half lengthways
1/2 tablespoon Vegeta
Salt and pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 cup tomato passata
2 heaped tablespoons Ajvar (Croatian capsicum relish)
Water, enough to cover the meat
If you need to thicken your stew,
2 teaspoons plain flour
1/4 cup water, extra
Serve this with pasta, mashed potato, gnocchi or Trganci (see link below)
www.whatscookingella.com/baka-marijas-trganci.html
In a large saucepan add oils to cover the base. Heat the oil over a low-medium heat, add onion and garlic (the garlic is left whole so it does not burn at this stage, it will fall apart during the cooking process), and saute until the onions soften and become translucent, this takes about 10 minutes. Add the capsicum wedges (they too will fall apart during the cooking process, there skins will slip off, which you discard, while the flesh will blend with the sauce), saute for a further 5 minutes, or until the onions become golden.
Add the meat, bay leaves, sage, chillies, vegeta, salt and pepper. Stir, cover, and cook for 1 hour over a low heat, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile soak the porcini mushroom in 1/2 cup boiling water to cover the mushrooms, allow to soak for 30 minutes.
After 1 hour remove cover, increase heat to high, cook out the liquid until you are left with a thick dark mixture. The capsicum skins can be discarded at this stage. Add porcini mushrooms and their liquid and the button mushrooms or asparagus now, stir through for 2 minutes.
Add paprika, passata, ajvar and extra water-to cover the meat. Stir, simmer for 15 minutes. Taste for seasoning now, add more if needed. Simmer a further 15 minutes. The meat should be soft by this stage, if not, cook a further 15 minutes.
If your stew is too thin and you would like it thicker, now you mix together the flour and 1/4 cup water, until it is smooth, add slowly to the goulash, stir it through. Simmer for a further 20 minutes.
Serve with trganci, mashed potato, gnocchi or pasta.
Enjoy!
Pin it: www.pinterest.com/pin/399413060682212206/