beef ragù

1kg beef joint

2 celery stalks, diced

2 carrots, diced

1 onion, diced

750ml beef stock

2 x 400g tinned chopped tomatoes

4 bay leaves

couple springs thyme, rosemary or a handful of sage leaves

10 black peppercorns

Optional: for extra vegetables add chopped up courgette and aubergine

• Pre-salt the beef the day before cooking and leave in the fridge. Use 4 tsp. of kosher salt per 1kg of beef. 
• Seal the beef. I've recently been using a newly purchased skillet and it is so much easier than sealing in a pan.
• In a large pot add a glug of olive oil and soften the celery, carrots and onion.
• Add the bay leaves, herb of choice and peppercorns. 
• Make a well and add the beef.
• Pour in the stock and add the tinned tomatoes, give a good stir.*
• Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to lowest setting and cover with a lid.
• Leave to simmer for around 3 hours, stir occasionally.
• Remove beef from the pot, transfer to a serving dish and cover with foil. 
• There will be a lot of sauce, pour off enough for your meal into a pan. Thicken with cornflour if needed. 
• Leave the rest of the sauce to cool, it can be bagged up and frozen - a quick pasta sauce for midweek meals.

Either:

• Add cooked pasta to the sauce, stir through.
• Slice the beef, it will be really tender and fall apart.
• Serve pasta, add beef on top and garnish with cheese. 

Or:

• Serve the beef and sauce on a bed of mashed potatoes or polenta. 

* alternatively at this stage you could transfer everything into a slow cooker, with 400ml of stock and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours. Simply pull the beef apart.