So this is Christmas…

We all have a holiday tradition or recipe that we hold so dear and near to our hearts, don’t we? One that we keep making the same way for years and never get bored with. Boeuf bourguignon is one of such dishes for me. Hearty and so packed full of flavour. It is a must in our house in the winter months.

This Christmas I am trying to make an elevated version of beef stew based on Gordon Ramsay’s recipe with a few modifications: cutting down the amount of red wine and adding in extra tomatoes cause I like a little more acidity in the sauce. The vegetables are sautéed instead of adding to the stew at the very beginning so to avoid a soggy texture.

p.s. This is my first time working with pearl onions and they are truly god-sent!

Ingredients:

• Olive oil, for frying
• 3 thick-cut meaty beef short ribs
• Minced garlic
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 250ml bottle red wine
• 1 cup beef stock
• 100g pancetta lardons
• 6-8 small chestnut mushrooms, trimmed and halved
• 6-8 pearl onions
• Carrots (optional)
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tomatoes cut in wedges

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 170°C.

2. Season the short ribs thoroughly, then panfry in the dutch oven for 10–15 minutes to brown well on all sides.

3. Add the minced garlic, pushing it to the bottom of the pan. Add the tomato purée and heat for a minute or two to cook it out. Pour in the wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up the bits at the bottom. Put in tomato wedges.
4. Bring everything to the boil and cook for 10–15 minutes until the liquid is reduced by half, then add stock to nearly cover the ribs. Bring to the boil again, basting the ribs with the juices.
5. Put the dutch oven in the preheated oven for 3–4 hours, until the meat is tender and falling away from the bone.
6. About 10 minutes before the short ribs are ready to come out, peel the pearl onions and boil them for 5 minutes.
7. At the same time, panfry the pancetta for 2–3 minutes until crisp and golden. Add the mushrooms and carrots, cook for 4–5 minutes until tender. Drain off any excess fat.
8. When the short ribs are ready, remove from the oven and transfer to a serving dish.  Spoon off any excess fat from the beef cooking liquid.

9. Serve the short ribs topped with the hot pancetta and mushrooms and the sauce poured around.