Beef Stew with Potato Gratin
My Red Wine Beef Stew with parmesan potato gratin is proper comfort food. And what better way to celebrate Father’s day this weekend than with a hearty stew? It’s all about low and slow cooking with spoon-tender meat and a deeply flavourful red wine sauce. Topped with gruyere potato gratin, this beef stew is worth adding to your repertoire.
There’s something special about weekend food that sets it apart from midweek suppers. A low and slow beef stew that splutters away contentedly for hours, allowing the oven to do all the work is clever cooking. At a recent lunch, the conversation turned towards food, more specifically our favourite kind of food. For the women, vegetable-rich dishes were top of the list, while for the men, meat and potatoes were a clear winner.
As with most stews and curries, this beef stew benefits from being made the day before. The flavours deepen overnight. I’ve topped the meat with waxy potatoes and a handful of gruyere cheese. If you prefer, puff pastry is a lovely alternative to the potato topping. Either way, this hearty stew is absolutely delicious.
What to serve with Beef Stew
Roast butternut is always a good option as too are sweet potatoes with honey and orange sauce. My husband, a potato loving Liverpudlian, would say mashed potatoes, despite having a potato topping. You could follow suit of course. I love adding a crusty bread with most dishes that have a good amount of pan sauce. My olive bread or overnight ciabatta are both simple yet very good, here.
Red Wine Beef Stew with Potato Gratin
Serves 6-8
2 tablespoons olive oil
1.5 kg beef shin, bone-in
1 large brown onion, diced
2 stems celery, diced
2 carrots, chopped, fine dice
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 teaspoon red chilli flakes
1 stem rosemary, de-stalked and finely chopped
250ml red wine
2 tablespoons tomato paste
400 g tin whole tomatoes, mulched
1/2 teaspoon sugar
peel of half and orange, thinly sliced into shavings (no pith)
750 ml weak beef stock
salt and pepper, to taste
Potato gratin
600 g potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 – 3mm thick rounds
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons gruyere cheese, finely grated
2 stems thyme
salt and pepper, to taste
Preheat the oven to 180º C. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large based, oven-proof or cast iron pot. Season the beef with salt and black pepper. Brown the meat on both sides until well coloured.
Remove from the pan and set aside. You will have to do the browning in batches. Avoid overcrowding the pan as the meat will start to stew as opposed to browning.
Add a drop more oil to the pan and sauté the onion until soft and translucent. Add the celery and carrots and sauté for several minutes before adding the garlic, rosemary and chilli flakes. Cook for 2 more minutes. Place the beef shin back into the pot with the vegetables, together with the meat resting juices.
Deglaze the pot with the red wine and reduce down by a third. Stir through the tomato paste, mulched tomatoes, sugar, orange peel and beef stock. Season lightly with salt and pepper, cover with the lid and cook in the preheated oven for 3 hours until the meat is spoon tender.
Allow to rest for about half and hour before skimming off any excess fat. Remove the bones, trying to keep the larger meat pieces intact. Spoon the meat and the thickened vegetable sauce into an oven-proof casserole dish or pan.
Parboil the potatoes in salted water. Drain thoroughly. Drizzle the potatoes with the melted butter and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Lay the potatoes over the meat filling, overlapping slightly.
Scatter over the thyme and bake in a 200º C oven for 45 minutes. Scatter over the gruyere cheese and grill for several minutes until the top is bubbling and the potatoes are golden. Serve with steamed green vegetables.
If you’re looking for hearty comfort food, here are three top blog picks
North African Lamb knuckle bredie
Creamy Swedish meatballs with mushrooms
18 Comments. Leave new
Looks good, how many will it serve?
Hi Cheryl. It’s usually sufficient for 6 very generous or 8 slightly smaller servings, depending of course on portion sizes.
This meal stole the show at the Father’s Day lunch table yesterday. The meat is succulent. So tasty. Thanks Di.
I think for the dads, meat and potatoes usually do! To save time and get ahead with this recipe, it always simpler to cook the meat the day before.
Di, I didn’t do this for fathers day, but made it for a family gathering meal two nights ago. This is surely going to be a family favored. Thanx it was delicious.
Good to hear Ivette. It really is the simplest way to feed and satisfy a crowd, especially at this time of year when warm and hearty is necessary!
Hi, I don’t have any red wine on hand. What kind of red wine should I purchase for this?
Thanks!
Hi Susan. I use a good Merlot or Shiraz for this dish. The better the wine, the better the flavour of the dish. Hope you enjoy it. It’s a big favourite in our home.
awesome recipe a keeper for sure, thanks
Thank you Louise. It’s one of the blog’s most popular recipes. Every winter, we turn to this meaty comforter. A real stalwart of winter cooking.
The recipe looks lovely, but I don’t see print anywhere ! Also, why don’t you let us change the amount of ingredients for two people as we don’t all have 6/8 people to cook for.
You’re most welcome to change the ingredients to suit however many people you need to feed. You could also freeze portions for when you don’t want to cook.
can you cook the beef part in slowcooker?
Absolutely, in which case I’d just reduce the water/stock content slightly.
Not sure where I went wrong but it was awful. Will try it again sometime
Hi Daniela. I’m sorry to hear it was disappointing. If you can pinpoint the problems perhaps I can see what or where it went wrong. I’d hate for you to go to all the trouble and it’s a repeat. Happy to help. Kind regards Di
Hi Di – what a great recipe ! I wanted to ask what you mean by “weak beef stock” should I still mix with water per package instructions ?
I also wanted to ask if you think the stew can be served over creamy polenta or creamy mash instead or baked as a hot pot ?
Hello Shira. Thank you. Personally, I prefer a weaker stock. Often the ratio of stock concentrate to water is too high which can make the sauce salty and strong. Usually, I use half the recommended measure of stock. So if the pack instruction is 2 teaspoons per 250ml water, I’ll only use 1 teaspoon. A cheesy polenta will be perfect, as too will mash. Both are great. Hope that helps. All the best Di