If you love meat and pasta dishes, you will love this one.  It does take a long time to cook, but at the end it will be worth it.  I like to have a warm French stick with it too to help mop up the juices..

Ingredients:

• 750g stewing steak
• 1 onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 bay leaf
• 400ml red wine
• 1 x 400g tinned tomatoes or a tin of passata if anyone doesn’t like tomatoes
• 500ml beef stock
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 500g dried pasta
• Handful of parsley, finely chopped

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 150c/Gas 2
2. Place a heavy based hob proof casserole dish over a high heat and add a dash of oil.  Season the beef and brown all over in the hot pan.  Transfer to a plate and set aside.
3. Add the onion, garlic and bay leaf to the empty pan and cook for a couple of minutes, until softened and colouring around the edges.
4. Return the meat to the pan. Add the wine to deglaze the pan, scraping up the bits from the bottom.  Stir in the tomatoes (or passata) and beef stock, season with a little salt and pepper and bring to a simmer.
5. Cover the pan with a lid slightly ajar to allow some steam to escape and place in the oven for 3½ – 4 hours, until the meat is completely tender and the sauce is rich and thick.  Check the liquid level after 2 hours, topping up with some water if necessary.
6. Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions.
7. When the beef is cooked, take a potato masher and mash the beef mixture down so the beef is shredded.
8. Drain the pasta, add it to the beef and stir.  Serve immediately topped with parsley.

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