Warming Beef Bourguigon

Battle the cold with this traditionally French beef stew. Serves 4.

Ingredients

3 strips streaky, smoked bacon or pancetta, cut into thin strips
A knob of butter
800g trimmed beef stewing steak, cubed
2 tablespoons flour
1 large white onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves garlic
2 carrots, quartered
2 parsnips, halved
Half a butternut squash
1 sprig sage
1 sprig rosemary
Half a bottle of red wine 
300 ml beef stock
2 tablespoons tomato puree

Preparation

1. Preheat your oven to 160C. Heat the butter in a large casserole dish on a medium heat on the hob and fry the onion, garlic, rosemary and sage for around three minutes.
2. Toss the beef cubes in flour and season generously with salt and pepper, then add to the casserole dish. Add the vegetables and bacon and mix everything together gently. 
3. Turn up the heat and add the red wine, stock and tomato puree, stir and bring to the boil. Push all the beef and vegetables under the liquid then cover with an ovenproof lid.
4. Place in the center of your oven for three to four hours (the cooking time will depend on the cut and quality of the beef but let it cook until the beef falls apart on a fork). Remove the dish from the oven every hour and stir contents adding more red wine and stock if it begins to dry up. Serve with crusty bread and a sprinkling of chopped parsley.