Grecian beef

Grecian beef is a great meal for cooler months and uses a cheap cut of meat to make it a budget friendly dish. It is a perfect dish for getting lots of vegetable serves in one meal. Use a wide-based saute pan to cook this dish. 

GRECIAN BEEF

Prep: 20 mins
Cook: 120 mins
Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 40ml / 2 tbsp of olive oil
• 600g / 20oz of chuck steak
• 1 brown/yellow onion, finely diced
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely grated
• 2 carrots, finely diced
• 1 stick of celery, finely diced
• 1 zucchini, finely diced
• 1 eggplant/aubergine, diced
• 1 red capsicum/red pepper, diced
• 1 tsp of paprika ground
• 4 sprigs of flat leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 400g / 28oz of tinned/canned diced tomatoes
• 400ml / 1 ⅔ cups of water
• 1 tsp of salt
• a pinch of pepper
• ½ cup of jasmine rice

Method

1. Preheat oven to 160ºC/300ºF/Gas Mark 2.
2. Place a wide-based ovenproof pot on the stove. Heat half the olive oil over a medium heat.
3. Seal beef on both sides, remove from pan and set aside.
4. Add remaining olive oil, onion, garlic, carrot and celery to the pan and cook. Moisten with a little water and cook for 5 minutes on a low heat.
5. Add zucchini, eggplant and capsicum/red pepper. Turn up the heat and cook until the eggplant is brown.
6. Add paprika, parsley, bay leaf, tomatoes, water, salt and pepper. The liquid should cover the meat and vegetables. Top up with more water if required. Bring to the boil then return the chuck steak to the pan.
7. Press some baking/parchment paper onto contents of saucepan and then cover with a lid. Cook in the oven for 1½ to 2 hours. If your pot cannot be transferred to the oven, you can simmer on the stove for 1½–2 hours instead. Check the meat is cooked by pulling the meat apart with tongs. It should fall apart when cooked.
8. Once meat is cooked, add the rice, give the dish a stir and place back in the oven for 15–20 minutes. Check the rice is cooked before removing from the oven.
9. Pull the remaining meat apart with tongs and stir to combine, then serve.

TIP
The meat should just break into pieces when it is being served. If it doesn’t you may need to return it to the oven for another 20 minutes.