Will Stewart is a previous MKR winner, cook and food writer.

Today, Will is going to be making slow-cooked beef stew with herb dumplings.

The dumplings are made with a flour dough and cooked on top of the beef.

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Recipe below

Hearty Beef Stew with Dumplings and Herbs

Serves: 6-8

Takes: 2 hours

Ingredients:

For the beef stew:

2 tbsp olive oil

25g butter

750g chuck steak, large dice

2 tbsp plain flour

4 garlic cloves, crushed

1 brown onion, peeled and roughly chopped

1 celery stick, roughly chopped

1 carrot, roughly chopped

1 leek, cleaned and roughly chopped

1 large parsnip cut into large chunks

150ml red wine

500ml beef stock

2 bay leaves

1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves or 1 tsp dried thyme

1 tbsp fresh rosemary leaves, roughly chopped or 1 tsp dried rosemary

3 tbsp chopped fresh flatleaf parsley

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar to taste

salt and freshly ground black pepper

The Dumplings:

1 cup self-raising flour

50 gram butter, cubed

1/4 cup milk

1 egg, lightly beaten

2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

Method:

1. Pre heat the oven to 180C.
2. For the beef stew, heat the oil and butter in an ovenproof pot and fry the beef until browned on all sides.
3. Sprinkle over the flour and cook for a further 2-3 minutes. Add the garlic and all the vegetables and fry for 1-2 minutes.
4. Stir in the wine, stock and herbs, then add the balsamic vinegar, to taste. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
5. Cover with a lid, transfer to the oven and cook for about 90 minutes, or until the meat is tender.
6. Meanwhile, to make dumplings, sift flour into a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Rub in the butter using your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the egg, milk and parsley and gently combine to form a dough. Using floured hands, shape a tbsp of the mixture into balls.
7. After 90 minutes, remove the lid from the stew and place the balls on top of the stew. Return the dish to the oven and cook for a further 20-30 minutes, or until the dumplings crisp up a little and become golden.
8. Remove the pot from the oven and serve with a side of your choice.