COOKING WITH KIRSTIE - SLOW COOKED BEEF RAGU

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

500g fresh diced beef steak

1 small onion (diced)

2 garlic cloves (crushed)

1 teaspoon chilli powder

3 tablespoons tomato puree

100ml red wine

100ml boiling water

1 beef stock cube

2 bay leaves

1 sprig rosemary

Method:

✨ add the red wine, boiling water, bay leaves and rosemary to the slow cooker then sprinkle over the beef stock cube and stir

✨ add the oil to a large frying pan and put on a medium heat then once hot add the steak, some salt and pepper to season and brown

✨ once the steak is evenly browned put this into the slow cooker, leave the remaining juices in the pan and put back on the heat

✨ add the onion to the frying pan and soften for around 5 minutes then add the garlic and soften again for roughly another 3 minutes

✨ once the onion and garlic is softened and fragrant add the chilli powder and make sure everything is evenly coated, then add the tomato puree and stir well

✨ put everything from the frying pan into the slow cooker and leave on a low heat for 2 hours

✨ after 2-3 hours remove the rosemary and bay leaves, you can also pull apart the beef and add back into the sauce at this stage

✨ leave the lid off and cook on high for another half an hour

Top tip: if you're not happy with the thickness of the sauce then add two tablespoons of cornflour to a tub and a splash of water and mix well until you have a paste. Add 3 tablespoons of the sauce from the slow cooker into the tub and then mix that well, once combined pour into the slower cooker and give it another mix. Cook for another 30 minutes after this step.

I served this with fresh pasta, a sprinkle of chopped parsley and about 6 stone of Parmesan cheese!