Homemade Beef Bourguignon - Slow Cooked to Perfection!

Preheat the oven to 160C/320F. Heat the oil in a large ovenproof casserole dish and add the lardons. Fry until golden brown, then remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl.

Add the halved shallots to the pan and fry on high in the same pan for a few minutes until seared, then add to the bowl with the lardons. There should still be 2-3 tbsp of oil left in the pan at this point, if there isn’t top up with a little more oil.

Toss the beef with the flour, salt and pepper. Now brown the beef in the pan in 3 or 4 batches (about 5-6 minutes per batch). Spoon out each batch into a bowl before starting on the next batch.

When cooked, add all the beef back into the pan and stir in the tomato puree. Now add in the wine, beef stock, bay leaves, thyme, carrots, mushrooms and the whole shallots. Give everything a stir – to release any bits that may have stuck to the bottom of the pan.

Then bring to the boil and turn off the heat. Place a lid on top and place in the oven to cook for 3 hours. Check a couple of times to make sure the Bourguignon isn’t going dry. If it is starting to look a little dry, add half a cup of water.

After 3 hours, stir the bacon lardons and fried shallots into the pan, place the lid back on and place back in the oven for another 10 minutes to heat through.

Serve with mashed potato and greens.