There's nothing nicer on a cold winter's day than a bowl of warming stew, top it with tasty healthy dumplings and you have a real treat!
Gluten Free ~ Egg Free ~ Dairy Free
Serves 4 (with leftovers)
Ingredients
Beef Stew
1kg Braising Steak or Shin of Beef cut into chunks
1-2 Tbsp Rapeseed Oil
2 Medium Red Onions, finely sliced
2 Cloves of Garlic, crushed
500ml Beef Stock
500ml Passata
3 Bay Leaves
½ Tsp Dried Thyme or a Few Sprigs of Fresh Thyme
125g Carrots, cut into large chunks
Sea Salt & Freshly Ground Black Pepper
A Large Handful of Olives
8 Cooked Globe Artichoke Hearts, quartered (either fresh, chargrilled & marinated or tinned)
Pumpkin Dumplings
200g Raw Pumpkin, finely grated
50g Ground Almonds
50g Rice Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1½ Tsp Dried Thyme
Sea Salt & Freshly Ground Black Pepper
Method
Pre heat the oven to 150℃/Fan 130℃.
Heat the rapeseed oil in a casserole pan and brown the meat in batches. Set the beef aside and add the onions to the pan and gently fry until soft. Return the beef to the pan. Pour in the beef stock along with the passata then add the carrots, garlic and herbs. Bring up to the boil then cover and place in the oven for about 3 hours or until the beef is tender.
Whilst the stew is cooking, mix together all the ingredients for the dumplings until a dough like mixture has formed. Divide into 8 pieces and using the palms of your hands, roll into balls. Place on a baking tray, lined with non stick parchment.
When the stew is cooked and you are ready to bake the dumplings turn the oven up to 180℃/Fan 160℃. Bake for 20 minutes then turn the heat up again to 200℃/Fan 180℃ and bake for another 5 minutes or until golden brown.
With the dumplings in the oven you can now thicken the stew. Take out the carrots and place in a jug, ladle some of the liquid from the stew onto the carrots, then using a hand blender, blend until smooth. Stir the puree into the stew to thicken the sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Finally, scatter the artichokes and olives over the top of the stew, replace the lid and keep warm whilst the dumplings are cooking.
When the dumplings are golden brown place them around the top of the stew and serve.
