Chunky Beef Stew (with Roasted Veg)

We had this on Tuesday night, when it was horribly windy/icy/snowy outside. It's a good winter/random cold snap in early spring warmer-upper.

(Serves 2)

For the stew:

Large handful of Mince

2 mushrooms, diced

6 baby plum tomatoes (or cherry tomatoes), halved

1/2 red onion, sliced

1 garlic clove, crushed

1/3 courgette, diced

A handful of Peas

Olive oil

Butter

Salt

Pepper

Chilli powder

Coriander

Thyme

Ketchup

Gravy granules

Roast

1 carrot, finely sliced

1 parsnip, finely sliced

5 or so new potatoes, halved or quartered depending on size

Olive oil

Butter

Salt

Pepper

Chop up the veg to be roasted, stick them on a baking tray with a couple of small knobs of butter and a sprinkle of the other ingredients, and bake on 180º for about half an hour.

In a big pan, add a knob of butter and a squirt of olive oil, then add the onions and garlic and the herbs and spices. Cook for a couple of minutes, then add all the veg (except the mince and peas - we used these from frozen but even if yours are fresh they shouldn't need as long). Cook these for another couple of mins, THEN add the mince and peas and cook until the mince is browned.

Add a squirt of ketchup and a sprinkle of gravy granules, then a small glass of water. Turn the heat down to simmer for around 15 minutes. Ours was at the perfect consistency at the same time the roasts were done - good timing!

Serve up - as presented above is well recommended, so it's like a bowl of soup with the roasts to dip in the tomato-y gravy. We also crumbled some cheshire cheese on top.

I missed good cheese. I love Cheshire cheese. Germany likes a waxy cheese. I detest waxy cheeses. We did not see eye-to-eye in the cheese aisle.