Beef bourguignon with bacon, mushrooms and pearl onions

Serves - 6

You’ll need

• 1.2kg braising beef, such as chuck or shin, cut into large chunks
• 150g smoked streaky bacon or lardons
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, cut into thick slices
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 750ml dry red wine
• 300ml beef stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 4 thyme sprigs
• 250g pearl onions or small shallots, peeled
• 300g chestnut mushrooms, halved or quartered if large
• 25g butter
• Small handful flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped
• Sea salt
• Black pepper

Method

1. Get the beef ready

Pat the beef dry with kitchen paper, then season generously with salt and black pepper. Toss it with the flour until lightly coated, shaking off any excess.

Dry beef and a hot pan are doing important work here. Wet meat crowded into lukewarm oil will steam politely when what we really want is a deep brown crust.

2. Cook the bacon

Heat a large, heavy casserole over a medium heat. Add the bacon and cook for 5–6 minutes until golden and beginning to crisp.

Lift it out with a slotted spoon and set aside, leaving the rendered fat behind in the pan. It would be a shame to waste such a useful start.

3. Brown the beef properly

Add a little of the vegetable oil if the pan looks dry, then brown the beef in batches over a medium-high heat. Turn the pieces until deeply coloured on all sides, adding more oil between batches if needed.

Transfer each batch to a plate as it is ready. Do not attempt to save time by putting everything in at once. The pan will notice, and so will the finished stew.

4. Build the base

Turn the heat down to medium. Add the chopped onion and carrots with a small pinch of salt and cook for 8–10 minutes until softened and beginning to colour.

Stir in the garlic and tomato purée and cook for another 2 minutes, allowing the purée to darken slightly and lose its raw edge.

5. Add the wine

Pour in roughly one-third of the red wine and let it bubble for a minute or two, scraping up all the browned bits from the bottom of the casserole.

Add the remaining wine, the beef stock, bay leaves and thyme. Return the beef and bacon to the pan along with any juices collected on the plate.

6. Braise slowly

Bring everything to a gentle simmer, then cover with a lid and transfer to a 160°C fan oven.

Cook for 2½ hours, stirring once or twice, until the beef is becoming tender. It should yield to a fork without quite falling apart at the slightest suggestion.

7. Cook the pearl onions

While the beef cooks, melt half the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the pearl onions with a small pinch of salt and cook for 8–10 minutes, turning regularly, until golden in places.

Add a small splash of water, cover and cook for another 5 minutes until nearly tender. Lift them onto a plate and set aside.

8. Brown the mushrooms

Add the remaining butter to the same pan and turn the heat up slightly. Add the mushrooms and cook for 6–8 minutes until their moisture has evaporated and they are deeply golden.

Leave them alone for stretches rather than stirring continuously. Mushrooms colour best when not treated like something requiring constant supervision.

9. Finish the bourguignon

After the beef has cooked for 2½ hours, stir in the pearl onions and mushrooms. Return the casserole to the oven uncovered for another 30 minutes, or until the beef is completely tender and the sauce is rich and glossy.

If the sauce still looks thinner than you would like, lift out the meat and vegetables and simmer it on the hob for a few minutes until reduced. Return everything to the pan once it has reached the proper spoon-coating stage.

10. Serve

Remove the bay leaves and thyme stalks, then taste and adjust the seasoning. Scatter over the parsley and serve in warm bowls with creamy mashed potatoes, buttered noodles or crusty bread.

This is not a dish that benefits from being served in dainty portions. The sauce has taken several hours to get here and deserves proper attention.

A couple of helpful notes
- Choose a well-marbled braising cut such as chuck, shin or featherblade. Lean stewing beef can become dry before it becomes properly tender.
- The wine should be dry and drinkable, but it need not be expensive. Burgundy is traditional, though a Pinot Noir or lighter Rhône red will also work very well.
- Beef bourguignon is often even better the following day. Cool it completely, refrigerate overnight and reheat gently until piping hot.