Italian Beef Stew
A delicious and hearty stew, perfect over mashed potatoes or served with crusty bread.
Servings main dish servings
Ingredients
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups chopped onion about 1 medium onion
- 1 1/4 cup chopped carrot divided
- About 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 3-4 tablespoons olive oil divided
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt plus more for seasoning the stew at the end
- 1 1/2-2 pounds cubed beef or beef stew meat
- 1 cup dry red wine or 1 cup grape juice with 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
- 2 15- oz. cans diced Italian tomatoes undrained
- 1 1/2 cups beef broth
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
- 1 bay leaf
- 8-10 ounces sliced baby portabella or cremini mushroooms
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
- 1-3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
- Chop the onions, carrots, and mince the garlic and set it aside.
- Heat about a tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil in a stock pot or a Dutch oven over medium heat. When it's hot, add the onions and 1/2 cup of carrots and saute for about 5 minutes or until the onions are tender and translucent. Add the garlic and saute it for about 1 more minute, stirring constantly.
- As vegetables are cooking, in a shallow dish, whisk together 1/4 cup flour, 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Toss the beef in the flour and toss until it's all coated. Set aside.
- Remove all vegetables from the pan and set aside. Place them in a dish that's larger than you need since you will also add the cooked meat to this same dish.
- Add another tablespoon of olive oil to the pot. Add beef to pot (do this step in 2 batches to avoid overcrowding) and sear until golden on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove beef from pan and add to vegetables.
- Pour the wine (or juice/vinegar mixture) into the pan and allow it to deglaze the pan (loosen up the cooked bits on the bottom of the pan). Scrape it regularly for about 5 minutes or until the liquid is reduced by about 2/3.
- Return the meat and onion mixture to the pan. Add the undrained canned tomatoes, broth, water, oregano, thyme, bay leaf, mushrooms and remaining carrots.
- Bring it to a boil and then cover the stew and reduce the heat to a steady simmer for about 1 1/2-2 hours or until the beef is tender.
- Discard the bay leaf and then add chopped parsley and basil and season with additional salt to taste. Serve it with crusty bread or over mashed potatoes. Makes about 8 main dish servings.
- Freezer Instructions: Prepare through deglazing the pan. Place all of the ingredients except for the water, fresh basil, and fresh parsley into a freezer bag or freezer safe container and freeze. Freeze the herbs separately in a small freezer safe bag. When ready to serve, place the contents of the large freezer bag and 1/2 cup of water into a slow cooker and cook on high for 6- 8 hours or on low for 8-10 hours. 1 hour before serving, add fresh herbs.
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