As the winter sets in we often turn to comfort food to warm our hearts and stomachs. This delicious beef brisket ragu is perfect for a cold evening, and requires very little cooking - simply prep the ingredients, load the slow cooker, and enjoy a mouthwatering meal a few hours later.
Siúcra has teamed up with Gastro Gays to create this hearty winter meal, which is also perfect for batch cooking. Serve with any pasta of your choice, or gnocchi or a baked potato if you prefer.
Serves four to six people.
Ingredients
800g - 1kg beef brisket, cut into 6-8 even pieces
A little seasoned flour, to coat
A little butter and oil, for frying
For the sauce
1 medium onion, peeled and sliced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
A handful of mushrooms (around 100g ), sliced
1 medium carrot, peeled and diced
2 bay leaves
1tsp salt
1 tbsp tomato purée concentrate
125ml red or white wine
400g passata
3 tbsp milk
1 tbsp Siúcra sugar
Method
Coat the brisket pieces in the seasoned flour and brown in a medium frying pan, bubbling with butter and a little oil, until nicely golden on all sides. Remove and add the wine to deglaze, scraping pan to remove any bits, and follow with the tomato purée. Keeping the heat on medium, allow these both to cook down and concentrate until you are left with about three or four tablespoonfuls.
In the slow cooker pot, add this sauce, followed by the browned beef and all of the sauce ingredients, except the milk. Stir everything to combine and clamp on the lid.
Cook on ‘low’ setting for eight to 10 hours or ‘high’ for four to five hours. Check for tenderness hourly from about half-way through. Add the milk for the last 30 minutes (or 10 minutes on high ).
Serve with your choice of pasta or carbohydrate - or even between two slices of bread.
