members recipes

You\'ll need to plan ahead for this dish as the meat will need marinating overnight before being braised with the wine and vegetables.

Ingredients
Serves 8-10 as a pasta sauce



1500g topside of beef (joint)

1 bottle of full bodied red wine

150g bacon lardons

2 small sticks of celery, finely diced

1 small onion, finely diced

1 med carrot, finely diced

1 heaped tbsp sun dried tomato paste(puree)

500ml beef stock

2 whole cloves of garlic,lightly crushed

2 bay leaves

4 juniper berries

A few sprigs of thyme

1 cinammon stick or a pinch of cinammon

2 tbsp of butter + 2 tbsp of olive oil

Salt



A little fresh basil to finish

Cooked pasta to serve

Method
Marinating:

1. Lay the topside in a medium sized deep bowl or container.
2. Pour over the wine making sure the beef is completely immersed.
3. Add all the vegetables, herbs and spices (not the salt), then cover and place in the fridge overnight.


4. The next day, drain the beef in a sieve, catching the wine in a container. Pat the meat and vegetables dry and set aside. Preheat the oven to 150C.
5. In a heavy based casserole, heat up the olive oil and add the butter. Season the meat with salt and fry on all sides till browned. Remove from the pan and set aside for now.
6. Fry the bacon till lightly browned.
7. Add the vegetables, herbs and spices to the pan and fry gently over a low heat, till vegetables are soft. Add the tomato paste and cook for about 1 minute.
8. Return the meat to the pan, pour over the wine and stock and bring to the boil.
9. Cover with a lid, then cook at 150C for approx 3 hours (turn the meat a couple of times during cooking). The meat should be very tender and the sauce will have thickened.
10. Take the meat out of the pan, wrap in foil and keep warm.
11. Pour the sauce into a fine sieve, pushing the vegetables through. Reheat gently.
12. Pull the meat apart into small pieces then add to the sauce.

Serve with cooked maccheroni, adding the pasta to the sauce just before serving. Sprinkle with a little fresh basil and serve with grated parmesan or pecorino cheese.