Beef Goulash

In my opinion Hungarian Beef Goulash is the ultimate one-pot dish. Indeed, you’d be hard pushed to inject any more flavour into a dish than one can here. What you get with this meal is an intensely rich and thick sauce which is both supremely tasty and very filling whilst being particularly cheap to produce, which I guess was the point of such a dish in the first place.

I visited Hungary a few years ago and was servedthe mostdelicious goulash I’ve ever tasted whilst on a boat trip down the Danube, the river around which Budapest is situated. It was served with this peculiar type of pasta calledcsipetkewhich is, in essence, small balls of pasta created to accompany soup. I’ve not attempted or eaten them since, but I would love to. I also picked up one or two pieces of advice, firstly, to get the best tasting goulashalwaysusesmoked paprika,and secondly, avoid using tomatoes. I, more often than not, always stick to the first “trick”, however, the second I go against somewhat in the use of tomato puree. However, I find using tomato puree takes the harsh edge off the paprika slightly, in addition to this it also helps to thicken the sauce as well as make it richer.

Also, I must report on the bargain of the century! My father is an avid car-booter and came back a couple of mornings ago with a metal Le Creuset Dutch oven type of thing. It cost him a mere£5, frugal indeed!

I’m afraid this recipe will take youat least2 hours to prepare and cook. Any less time and the fat in the beef won’t have time to break down and it will be slightly chewy. The pot created will happily serve four if accompanied by either bread, pasta or rice.

Beef Goulash {recipe}

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 500g diced stewing beef
• 2 1/2 tbsp smoked paprika. That’s right,tablespoons
• 2 onions, roughly chopped
• 2 peppers, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, mashed
• 1 generous tbsp tomato puree
• 300ml beef stock
• seasoning
• olive oil

Method:

First off you’ll want to getBigwig Jerky. To do this heat up some olive oil until searing hot and brown quickly in batches. Save the juice. Once done place the beef to one side. Pre-heat the oven to 170C.

To the resultant “beef juice” add the onions, peppers and garlic, fry until translucent as per. Placeeverythingtogether in an oven dish and cook in the oven forat leastone and a half hours. Believe me, cooking it for longer will do it no harm.

Serve in a bowl with buttered bread or pasta. If you’re feeling really indulgent add some sour cream, but it really doesn’t need it.

Cost:

This meal should come out at£1.40per person maximum, and that’s if you employ the use of good beef. If you’re willing to slum it, which I am not, you could reduce the cost of this dish to£1per portion, easily.