Hearty Beef Stew with Polenta & Mash Topping
This hearty beef stew is the perfect combination of rustic comfort food and refined savoury flavours. Leaning heavily on pantry staples for the seasoning and topping, the heart of this meal is in it’s slowly simmered filling paired with fluffy dumplings that soak up all the delicious sauce.
This meal is great to prep in advance and can be completed up to the topping stage to be finished later. Once the stew has cooled, you can spoon on the cooled topping, seal well and freeze up to 3mths or refrigerate if you’re going to finish the cooking in the next two days.
It’s a great family gathering dish and pairs incredibly well with a hearty red wine like Cabernet Sauvignon or Barossa Valley Shiraz. This meal is equally at home served buffet style at a potluck or as weekly meal prep. It’s both indulgent and at the same time very familiar and comforting.
If you can find French Shallots, they are a worthy addition. While technically now classified as a type of onion, historically they were classed as their own species of the Allium family. The ones we can buy here have a brown skin and purple hued layers, similar to that of a spanish red onion inside but much smaller. They are usually an elongated oval shape and are not to be confused with Spring Onions, which are sometimes also referred to as Shallots.
We hope you give this recipe a try and please let us know in the comments below if you do. For more comfort food recipes, please check out the “Comfort Food” heading under our main meals archive.
Hearty Beef Stew with Polenta & Mash Topping
Weights here are approximate, you can vary to your preferences or what you have available.
- Chop the mushrooms into quarters. Destem if desired, or trim any woody parts.
- Peel and halve the french shallots
- Trim the end off the carrots and rotate to cut off rustic diagonal chunks (Rangiri style)
- Dice the meat into 1 inch cubes
- Cut streaky bacon into 1cm batons.
- Mince the Garlic Gloves.
Preheat the Oven to 180oC. Prepare the sauce by whisking the flour, stock powder and tomato paste together to form an extra thick paste. Add the Worcestershire sauce to thin the paste a little before finally mixing in your 2 cups of water.
Using half the olive oil, sear the cubed meet in batches - to form some brown crispy edges but not cook through. Transfer seared meat to a deep baking dish.
In the same pan, start cooking the bacon until some of the grease renders out. Add the mushroom pieces and continue to cook until lightly browned (4-5mins). Transfer to the baking dish.
Add the remaining olive oil and soften the shallots. Add the garlic and carrots and continue to cook for 1-2 minutes before transferring the onions, carrots and garlic to the baking dish as well.
Add your sauce mixture from above and stir over a medium heat until it starts to thicken. Pour over the meat and vegetables in your baking dish and mix through so everything is combined. Poke the Bay leaves into the mixture evenly.
Cover the baking dish tightly with foil and bake for 1 1/2 hours.
Remove the Foil and bake for a further 45mins.
While the stew is stewing, peel and dice the potatos. Add to a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for 20mins or until tender. Drain the potato, then return to the saucepan and mash. Set aside to cool.
Dice the butter into small cubes and measure out the flour into a mixing bowl. Rub the butter into the flour, add in the polenta, potato, milk, eggs and cheese and mix to combine. Season with Salt & Pepper.
Once the uncovered stew has been in the oven for 45 minutes, carefully remove from the oven and set atop a heatproof surface. Spoon dollops of the dumpling mixture evenly atop the stew.
Return to the oven for a final 25-30 minute bake. The topping should be golden brown. Allow to cool slightly before dishing up - don't forget to remove the 3 bay leaves you added at the beginning!
Ingredients
Directions
Weights here are approximate, you can vary to your preferences or what you have available.
- Chop the mushrooms into quarters. Destem if desired, or trim any woody parts.
- Peel and halve the french shallots
- Trim the end off the carrots and rotate to cut off rustic diagonal chunks (Rangiri style)
- Dice the meat into 1 inch cubes
- Cut streaky bacon into 1cm batons.
- Mince the Garlic Gloves.
Preheat the Oven to 180oC. Prepare the sauce by whisking the flour, stock powder and tomato paste together to form an extra thick paste. Add the Worcestershire sauce to thin the paste a little before finally mixing in your 2 cups of water.
Using half the olive oil, sear the cubed meet in batches - to form some brown crispy edges but not cook through. Transfer seared meat to a deep baking dish.
In the same pan, start cooking the bacon until some of the grease renders out. Add the mushroom pieces and continue to cook until lightly browned (4-5mins). Transfer to the baking dish.
Add the remaining olive oil and soften the shallots. Add the garlic and carrots and continue to cook for 1-2 minutes before transferring the onions, carrots and garlic to the baking dish as well.
Add your sauce mixture from above and stir over a medium heat until it starts to thicken. Pour over the meat and vegetables in your baking dish and mix through so everything is combined. Poke the Bay leaves into the mixture evenly.
Cover the baking dish tightly with foil and bake for 1 1/2 hours.
Remove the Foil and bake for a further 45mins.
While the stew is stewing, peel and dice the potatos. Add to a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer for 20mins or until tender. Drain the potato, then return to the saucepan and mash. Set aside to cool.
Dice the butter into small cubes and measure out the flour into a mixing bowl. Rub the butter into the flour, add in the polenta, potato, milk, eggs and cheese and mix to combine. Season with Salt & Pepper.
Once the uncovered stew has been in the oven for 45 minutes, carefully remove from the oven and set atop a heatproof surface. Spoon dollops of the dumpling mixture evenly atop the stew.
Return to the oven for a final 25-30 minute bake. The topping should be golden brown. Allow to cool slightly before dishing up - don't forget to remove the 3 bay leaves you added at the beginning!
Notes
Recipe Notes
Most certainly. Instead of the 2tsp stock powder and 500ml water, substitute for 500ml of your preferred stock base.
This recipe works equally as well with Diced Lamb.
If you are unable to find french shallots, you can substitute with baby/pearl onions. Alternatively you can use 3x regular onions, quartered.
If you’re really wanting to make this lighter, you can cut the butter from the topping and use skim milk. It’s also possible to exclude the streaky bacon and use only a light misting of oil to sear the meat. The prepped vegetables can be all thrown into the baking dish raw as they will cook plenty in the oven.
All of these substitutions and exclusions will result in some loss of flavour, but will save approx. 100cal per serve.
Halving the total amount of dumpling topping will save roughly a further 100cal per serve.
Key Ingredients
