Every country seems to have it's own version of a slow-cooked beef dish. From our British beef stew to wine rich, French bourguignon and Italian ragu. In Greece, their version is the deliciously aromatic beef stifado, which is spiced with cloves, bay, nutmeg and allspice.
Also known as Stifatho, it is often served with orzo, the delicate pasta that resembles rice. However, it's also lovely served with pappadelle or crusty bread.
Serves 4-6
4 tablespoons of olive oil
800g diced braising steak
1½ teaspoons of crushed or finely grated garlic
1 tablespoon of finely chopped fresh rosemary
150ml red wine
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
500ml beef stock
1 cinnamon stick
2 bay leaves
4 allspice berries
½ teaspoon ground allspice
2 cloves
Grate of nutmeg
Salt and pepper
12 baby onions
- Preheat the oven to 160°C.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a casserole dish and seal the beef. I recommend that you do this in batches to avoid the meat sweating in it's own juices.
- Return all of the meat to the casserole dish and add the garlic and rosemary and stir for a couple of minutes.
- Now add all of the remaining ingredients, except the onions.
- Stir well and place in the hot oven.
- After 1 hour 45 minutes, peel the baby onions.
- Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan and once the oil is up to temperature, saute the onions until they are golden.
- Remove the casserole dish from the oven and stir in the onions.
- Return the stifado to the oven for a further hour, or until the meat falls apart.
- Leave to cool for about 10 minutes before serving, so that the flavours aren't overpowered by the temperature of the dish.
